The Two Worlds Wars
by Banshi13
Summary: Due to the fact that I have another trilogy in production, and that I am helping friends write other stories, I don't think I'll be able to continue with this one right now. However, I promise to finish up the first story as soon as possible for you guys
1. Disclaimer (First and Formost Folks!)

Okay. This is the default chapter. Now, unlike alot of the other Harry Potter fics, where they do a disclaimer on every single chapter, this right here is my disclaimer.   
  
I do not own Harry Potter, J.K. Rawling does. I do not own anything pertaining to Harry Potter.  
  
J.K. Rawling does.  
  
Great! Now that we've got all that taken care of, I guess you can go ahead and start reading the story. Please read and review, I like reading reviews, even if they are flames. Just don't make the flames to, well...flaming.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
  
P.S. If you like this story, go check out my other stories. They're long, but my friends seemed to like them, and I hope you will too!  
  
P.P.S. And after you're done reading my stories, you can go read Lomihahamech stories. They're amazing!  
  
P.P.P.S. Nothing, I just felt like doing that! Go read! 


	2. The Parting of Ways

17 year-old Hermione Granger hurried down the corridor towards the Great Hall, her scarlet cape flapping behind her.   
  
Dumbledore had called for a meeting between all the houses and teachers of The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hermione knew that what he had to say could only be bad news, seeing as how Voldemorts power was now controlling almost everything in the magical world. His strength was even beginning to reach into the the muggle world.   
  
Dumbledore had been so worried by Voldemorts new found power that he had ordered special anti-black magic capes to be made by the Ministry of Magic to be worn by the students at all times, whether or not they were indoors or outdoors.  
  
Hermione rushed into the Great Hall with the other students from the houses of Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.  
  
Slytherin.  
  
Hermione glanced over to the large table with green flags adorned with snakes heads hanging over them. She was sure that some, if not all of the Slytherins families were involved with Voldemorts evil plans for double world domination. Her eyes fell on a hansome young man of about 17 with silver blonde hair plastered to his head, and cold, stormy grey eyes.  
  
The boy was Draco Malfoy, son of the infamous and known to be Deatheater Lucius Malfoy, and most devout follower of Voldemorts new regime.  
  
*I wonder if he's been called into action yet* Hermione wondered as she continued looking at him.  
  
"Hermione!"  
  
Hermoine snapped out of her reviere and turned towards the voice that had called her name. There, standing up between their benches and the Gryffindor table were Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, waving her over to them. She quickly made her way through the massive crowd towards them and flopped down on the bench opposite Harry and Ron.  
  
"Hello Harry, Ron," she greeted them and tried to smile, but Hermione knew that she wasn't fooling anybody, least of all Harry and Ron. They had all been through to much, known to much sorrow, and knew eachother like the backs of their hands for anyone of them to mislead the other with a smile.  
  
Harrys bright green eyes studied her carefully. Hermione knew that out of everyone at Hogwarts, he had to be the one most affected by Voldemorts knew rise to power. Afterall, Harrys life had been in danger since the day he was born, and he had become more of a target since he had entered Hogwarts at age 11, along side herself and Ron.  
  
"Has Dumbledore spoken at all yet?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer to the question.  
  
"Nope, Professor McGonagall has gotten up front though," Ron said to her, the same worried look in his eyes, "She's just told us to stay calm and that when Dumbledore comes in, the instructions that he gives us must be followed to the leter."  
  
"I wonder what could be going on?" Hermione wondered aloud.  
  
"What else, Herms?"  
  
A girl with firey red hair and green eyes came to sit next to her. It was 16 year-old Ginny Weasley, Rons younger sister, who had spoken.  
  
"It must be You-Know-Who," she continued, a frightened look in her young eyes.  
  
"Well, yes, but what could he be doing that could have the teachers in such a frenzy?" Hermione asked her friend. Ginny shrugged and was about to reply when they heard the sound of a bell being tolled up front.  
  
"May we have your undivided attention please?" Professor Minerva McGonagall, who had spoken, rang the bell until the entire hall was quiet. Dumbledore entered from a side door, the rest of the teachers following behind him. He walked to his chair, which was right in the middle of the table and stood in front of it, waiting for the other teachers to get situated.  
  
"I am sure that you have heard the rumors which have spread so quickly in the last half-hour. I am also glad to see you all wearing your capes. You may very well need them in the future," Dumbledore began. His voice echoed through the dining chamber, the strong but calm voice of Hogwarts.  
  
"As I'm sure all of you know by now, Voldemort has gained considerable strength these last few months. His powers are beginning to reach into the muggle world. He has killed hundreds of them, and he has killed many of us as well." He paused letting his words sink into the young group of students that was before him now.   
  
Hermione looked around the Hall. Every single solitary eye was focused on Dumbledore, and every ear was turned his way. She glanced over at the Slytherin table; they were also listening intently to what Dumbledore had to say.  
  
"Because Voldemorts power is becoming undeniablly strong, the Ministry of Magic has decreed that all students at Hogwarts who are in the first to six years must be returned home to their families."  
  
Collective gasps and cries went up in the Hall. Ginny looked to her brother, her green eyes wide with surprise and fear. But Ron smiled at her and reached over to pat his little sisters hand. "It'll be alright," he told her.  
  
Harry however had a frown on his face.  
  
"I wonder what he's going to do with us?" he asked Hermione. She shrugged. "I'm not sure I even want to know, Harry," she replied quietly.  
  
"The seventh years, because of their age and their aquired knowledge here, will stay and help to defend the magical realm. In a since, the seventh years will become premature Aurors."  
  
Hermione took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. So, this was what had been decided. The younger students would go home, safe to their parents, but she, Harry, Ron, and all the other seventh years had no choice.  
  
They had to stay and fight.  
  
"I realize that this comes as a shock to the seventh years," Dumbledore said quietly, "I know that you weren't expecting to go into your graduating year fighting against Voldemort and his followers. But the Ministry needs you, and so does the rest of the magical world."  
  
Hermione glanced at Harry, who was staring at the floor. *He didn't expect it to come so soon* Hermione thought sadly. She knew that Harry knew it would come down to him and Voldemort.  
  
But in his seventh year?  
  
"Now, you must listen carefully to the instructions that I give you," Dumbledore was saying as Hermione returned her attention to him.   
  
"All years sixth years and under will go back to their dorms and back their things immediately. You will then convine in the Great Hall at 8:00 tonight, where there will be Ministry transportation ready to recieve you. You're parents have been notified of the drastic change in plans, and they will be at Platform 9 and 3/4 to meet you."  
  
Dumbledore stood up and gestered to Professor McGonagall. "Your house teachers will escort you back to your dorms at this time. Seventh years, you will remain in here so we may discuss what your future will be."  
  
"Gryffindor, this way!" McGonagall stood up and made her way over to the Gryffindor table. Hermione watched with a heavy heart as Ginny slowly rose from her seat and followed McGonagall and the rest of the under-seventh years out of the Great Hall. Her gaze fell on Ron, who was watching his sister go.  
  
"She'll be alright, Ron. She'll be safer than us at any rate," Hermione said gently to him. Ron nodded, but continued to watch his sister leave.  
  
"Would all of you please come over to the Ravenclaw table?" Dumbledore asked them.   
  
When everyone was seated, Dumbledore came from around the head table and down the stairs to stand in front of the Ravenclaw table.  
  
"I know what the Ministry has asked you isn't easy to do. Most of you are not even adults yet, and you are being asked to risk your life against the most evil thing the magical world and the muggle world has ever known. You will not however be going into battle without being prepared."  
  
Hermione and Harry furrowed their brow. They were both thinking the same thing: *How is one to prepare for the fight of your life*  
  
"Special Auror trainers from the Ministry have been dispatched and will be arriving here at Hogwarts in one weeks time. In the meantime, you will attend your normal classes. At the end of the week, as a last fun fest before your training begins, you are allowed to go to Hogsmeade. I strongly suggest you take this offer, because it will be the last one you recieve for a while."  
  
Dumbledore smiled at the students sadly. Hermione looked around. Some of the Seventh years, including Parvati and Lavender looked scared to death. Hermione couldn't blame them; they had never wanted to go into the Auror profession, they had both wanted to be teachers. Her gaze switched to the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws; all were eager to get started, to help vanquish the evil that lay before them.  
  
Hermione smiled at that. *At least we've got people that are happy to fight* she thought as she looked over to the Slytherins. Most of them had arrogant looks on their faces; for a minute, Hermione thought they believed this to be a joke, but one look at another Slytherin changed that thought completely.  
  
Draco Malfoy was listening quietly to Dumbledore, eyes never leaving him. For once, he didn't have the self-assured, smart look on his face. His eyes were still cold, but there was a different look about them. They seemed almost...  
  
worried.  
  
Hermione shifted her attention to Ron, the hot head of the Gryffindors. She knew that he wanted to get started on the Auror training. As much as Parvati and Lavender wanted to be teachers, he wanted to be an Auror. Hermione knew from the experience of watching him and Malfoy fight that Ron wanted the battle to start.  
  
And then, there was Harry.  
  
He was the Boy Who Lived. The lightening scar on his head was a testament to that fact. Harry had known after his first encounter with Voldemort back when he was a first year that Voldemort wanted his head on a mantle somewhere. If there was going to be a deciding factor in the war, it would be the personal fight between pure evil and pure good.  
  
Voldemort and Harry.  
  
"You may all go back to your rooms, your classes have been canceled for the day. Spend the time that you have with those that are leaving us. I can almost assure you, it will be a while before you see any of them again."  
  
Slowly, one by one, student after student began to rise from their seats and make their way towards their rooms. Hermione watied for Ron and Harry and as she did, she thought about everything that she'd experienced at Hogwarts.  
  
Her first year, she'd met Harry and Ron, and after an incident with a troll in the bathroom, the two had become unseperable. Her second year, she had been petrified, her third, she had gotten a time key from Professor McGonagall and had wound up taking on more classes that she could handle.  
  
Her fourth year had been when things started to go from bad to worse. Cedric had been killed that year by Voldemort, Harry had won the tri-wizards tornament, the Deatheaters had appeared to her for the first time...  
  
and Voldemort had finally been able to take human form.  
  
Hermione sighed and gazed at the floor. She never expected for her last year in school to be spent fighting against Voldemort as a Pre-Auror, but that was the task that she had been given.  
  
And Hermione Granger, no matter how difficult the tasks were, always completed them with perfection in mind. This battle would be no different.  
  
It had begun. 


	3. Physical and Mental Fights

At exactly 8:00 on the dot that same night, Ron was saying goodbye to his sister, watching her leave the school that she had spent six years of her life to go back home to the burrow, where she would be relatively safe from the battle that would soon be waged at Hogwarts.  
  
Hermione watched brother and sister exchange their goodbyes, holding back her tears at the same time. She and Ginny had formed a special relationship over their years at school together, and Hermione could honestly say that besides Harry and Ron, she was ready to trust Ginny with her life at any moment.  
  
Ron turned and slowly ambled back to where Hermione was standing, Harry beside her, watching the other students leave with the Ministry. They would be gaurding the students all the way to the station, and they would stay until the train left the platform.  
  
"I can't believe this is happening," Ron said quietly as he watched the carriges and ministry cars begin to trek down the road that would take them to the station.  
  
"She'll be better off back at the burrow, Ron, you know that," Harry reasoned with him. Ron nodded, but sighed at the same time. "I know, and mom is a skilled witch. But what if the Deatheaters just randomly decide to attack the burrow? She can't fend off their powers; in fact not a whole lot of people can!"  
  
Harry and Hermione just nodded slightly. They knew how difficult it was for Ron to watch his little sister being sent away from him. He had become quite the protective brother over the years that she attended at Hogwarts.  
  
The trio stayed outside, watching the students leave the grounds, their capes swishing in the wind behind them.  
  
"Well," Harry said, turning around, his emerald cape flapping to him, "what do we do now?"  
  
"I suppose we should just go back to our rooms," Hermione said, climbing the steps into the school along with the other students. "We still have to attend regular classes, and we have double potions with the Slytherins tomorrow. I think we should all get a goodnights rest."  
  
"I don't want to rest right now, I want to fight!" Ron said harshly. Hermione was about to respond when another voice interrupted her.  
  
"Weasel, if you fought right now, the only purpose that you would serve would be comic relief."  
  
Hermione, Harry, and Ron spun around to find Draco Malfoy standing behind them. The four of them were the last to walk into the school and with the other students heading back to their respective dorms, they were alone in the hall.  
  
"I don't remember anybody asking your opinion, ferrett face," Ron said, cooly. He and Draco had been enemies since their first year, but since the beginning of the previous year, they had somehow managed to leave eachother alone.  
  
"And I don't remember a time when I cared," Draco returned, just as smartly.  
  
"Malfoy, what do you want? Don't you have a Deatheaters meeting to attend or something?"  
  
This came from Hermione. She had grown from the shy, studious student that she was in her first year. She was now more outspoken, and while she was still studious (she was headgirl after all), she didn't let the fact that she was a bookworm make her appear that she didn't have the ability to spit out a crack or two at someone.  
  
"My, our tongue has grown sharper over the years, hasn't it?" Draco retorted snidely.  
  
"Get on with it, Draco. If you have something to say, say it, and leave us alone. We don't have time to listen to your petty insults," Harry remarked, staring Draco in the eyes.  
  
"The only thing I have to say, is that if and when the Deatheaters come to Hogwarts, you're going to need more than those capes to defend yourselves against them."  
  
Ron snorted. "Yes, I suppose you would know about defense against dark magic. You're bred in it!"  
  
"That hurts, Weasel," Draco said, and he began to walk slowly towards the trio of friends, "I hope your sister didn't forget her cape. Of course, I'm sure the burrow would be one of the first places that You-Know-Who would look for our hero here," Draco jerked his head towards Harry.  
  
"Why would he go to the burrow?" Ron asked, now very interested in what Draco was telling him. Hermione however wasn't buying it.  
  
"Ron, let's go, he's just trying to get a rise out of you," she tugged on Rons arm, but he shook her off.  
  
"Why would He go to the burrow?" Ron asked again, his voice becoming deeper with anger.  
  
"Oh, I'm not saying He would. But if He did, the reason is obvious," Draco answered, "who are you friends with, Weasel?"  
  
Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, who was glaring at Draco, but they didn't say anything.  
  
"I happen to know that Ginny has or had a little crush on our golden boy here. If I know that....well, let's just say that His ears are everywhere."  
  
Before Harry or Hermione could stop him, Ron flung himself at Draco, both crashing to the floor, and began to pound on him with his fists. Ron played Quidditch, so he was very strong and quick.  
  
Unfortunately, so was Draco.  
  
He lept up, grey eyes swirling with rage, and began to fight back with Ron. The fight lasted about another two or three minutes with Hermione and Harry desperately trying to stop them, before Hermione suddenly shouted:  
  
"Petrificus Totallus!"  
  
Both Ron and Draco immediately froze, and then fell back onto the floor. Harry looked at Hermione and gave a sigh of relief.  
  
"I was wondering how long it was going to take before you did that," he said as he bent down to take Ron underneath the arms.  
  
"Well, I was hoping they would listen to reason, but then again it's Ron and Draco we're talking about here," Hermione responded, grabbing Rons legs. Together, she and Harry carried Ron back to the Gryffindor Dorm Rooms.  
  
  
"Honestly Ron," Hermione was saying as she dipped the cloth into the water again and continued to clense a cut on Rons cheek, "you've got to learn to control your temper."  
  
"Control my temper?! How about Draco learning to control his mouth?" Ron nearly shouted at her as he sat slumped on the couch in the commons room.  
  
"Like Hermione said before, he was just trying to get a rise out of you, Ron!" Harry stated, sitting on the couch next to his bestfriend. "You-Know-Who wouldn't waste his time going to the burrow to get to me, he'd come here."  
  
"You can't be sure about that Harry," Ron said as Hermione finished cleaning his wound, "Ginny....actually, my whole family is like your second...well, your real family. You-Know-Who wouldn't think twice to killing all of us to get to you."  
  
"Ron, You-Know-Who more than likely doesn't know where you live," Hermione reasoned with him, "and if something like that does happen, and it's very unlikely that it would, but if it did, that Aurors from the ministry would be there so quickly to stop him that You-Know-You wouldn't know what hit Him."  
  
"You actually think the Aurors can stop Him, Hermione?" Ron asked looking at her. Hermione returned his stare, but didn't say anything.  
  
"Didn't think so."  
  
"Ron, there's no sence in worrying about something that hasn't happened yet," Harry told him, "and besides, I've fought Vold...You-Know-Who in the past. I've defeated him before. I know I can do it again."  
  
"Yes, but Harry, He wasn't as powerful back then as He is now," Hermione said, a sad look in her eyes. The trio was quiet for a while, each thinking about the future that was enivetable for them.  
  
"Enough of this," Harry said suddenly, "I'd rather be studying then thinking like this."  
  
He, Ron, and Hermione went to their rooms, then came back into the commons and quietly read their books and did their homework.  
  
  
Draco Malfoy looked at himself in the mirror. A black mark was beginning to form around his left eye, and his lip was considerably bigger than it normally was.  
  
"Damn Weasley," Draco muttered as he took off his cape and drapped it across the chair in front of the desk that the mirror was latched onto.  
  
He took off his shirt, preparing for a goodnights sleep, but before he moved towards the bed, he looked at his left arm.  
  
The arm where the dark mark would soon be tatooed.  
  
Whether he liked it or not. 


	4. Dracos' Decision

The next day was a somber one for both teachers and students. Even Double Potions with the Slytherins was bearable, partly because Snape was actually keeping his comments to himself, but mostly because the Slytherins weren't giving the Gryffindors death looks and vice-versa.  
  
Well, most of the Slytherins and Gryffindors weren't giving eachother deathlooks.  
  
Ron and Draco continued to send nasty looks eachothers way, and finally Hermione got so tired of it that she moved in front of Ron, blocking the 17 yearold boys from glaring at eachother.  
  
When class finally ended, Harry, Hermione, and Ron made their way out of the Potions dungeon and up to the Great Hall, where lunch was being served.  
  
"We don't have anymore classes today," Harry observed as they sat at the table, which was now considerably more bare than he had ever seen it. In fact, if Dumbledore wanted to, he could've ordered everyone to sit at the Ravenclaw table, which was right in front of the head table. So many people were gone that all the seventh years in the school could have fit at the table, with room to spare.  
  
"Well, what do we want to do?" Hermione asked as she picked up a piece of chicken and munched on it.  
  
"What can we do?" Ron asked as he ate a forkful of mashed potatos. "The Hogwarts is under heavy gaurd now, we can't bloody well go outside without being told that we have to come back inside, and then when we are inside, we either have to be in a class, or we have to be in our house!" He sighed heavily and dropped his fork on his plate.  
  
"I'm not even hungry anymore," he murmered. Harry and Hermione glanced at Ron, alarmed.  
  
Ron Weasley? Not hungry?  
  
*Well, there's a first for everything* Hermione thought. She wasn't really hungry either.  
  
  
For the rest of the week, classes went on as usual, but without the normal hustle and bustle of the school. Teachers were tired and moody, and students were somber and mouthy. Lavender recieved a detention at the hands of Professor Snape for telling him to "bloody leave me alone and to crawl back under the rock of which he came." The Gryffindors, and especially the Slytherins had been surprised by the outburst.  
  
Professor Snape had told Lavender that because of her outburst, she would not be going to Hogsmeade that weekend. The Gryffindors had immediately disagreed with the punishment, saying that it was to harsh, and no-one should be denied the last trip to Hogsmead before the battle of their lives. Snape then sent for Dumbledore, and it was aranged for Lavender to serve a detention with Snape after class, sweeping and mopping all the dungeon classrooms.  
  
There were four of them.  
  
Finally, Saturday came, and with it, Hogsmeade.   
  
Hermione waited eagerly in the Commons Room of the Gryffindor house for Harry and Ron, and when the came down, they each grabbed their capes and made a dash for the main exit of the school.  
  
"Three Butterbeers, please," Harry requested as the trio sat in one of the many restauraunts in Hogsmeade, this one called "The Floo Cafe". The waitress immediately hurried off, the order in her hand, and Hermione, Harry, and Ron leaned back in their chairs, watching the other students from Hogwarts laugh and converse with eachother.  
  
When the waitress came back with the Butterbeers, they slowly drank them, not saying a word to eachother until the last drop was gone.  
  
"Can't believe we won't be seeing this place for a while," Ron said as he downed the last of the beer. Harry just nodded and Hermione looked away from them both, sorrow filling her deep brown eyes.  
  
Her gaze fell on Draco Malfoy, who was sitting with Crabbe and Goyle. Draco however, was not concentrating on what they were saying. He was looking past them at something, Hermione didn't know what, but she did notice that his right hand was on the upper part of his left arm, and he was rubbing his thumb up and down it.  
  
Hermione continued to look at him, wondering what the boy was thinking.  
  
*I wonder if he knows anything about the attacks that will start soon,* she thought. She actually at times felt sorry for Draco. She could only imagine what kind of life he led when he wasn't at school. She knew that it was nothing like hers or Rons, full of love and caring parents. Hermione had met Lucius Malfoy on two or three occasions, and each time she saw him she got the distinct impression that Draco was afraid of him.  
  
*Draco Malfoy, afraid of his own father? Who would've thought?*  
  
But Hermione didn't blame Draco for fearing the man. Hell, she feared him everytime she thought about him. Lucius Malfoy was a man to be reckoned with. He was extreamly powerful, both in the magical and financial since, and he was Voldemorts right hand man. She could just imagine Lucius standing over his son, yelling at him that he had a legacy to carry on.  
  
A legacy of evil.  
  
"Hey, Herms?"  
  
Hermione shook her head and looked at Harry, who had spoken her name. "You okay Hermione?" he asked gently. She nodded and gave him a small smile. "Yes, I'm fine, Harry. I was just thinking about...everything."  
  
"Yea, me too. You were planning to go into the Auror academy, right?"   
  
"Yes...but I didn't think it would be this soon."  
  
Hermione looked down at her glass and drummed her fingers on the table.  
  
"You know, I could really go for some chocolate frogs right now," Ron said. Hermione lifted her head and smiled. Hogsmeade candy always made her feel better, and it usually calmed her fears.  
  
Usually.  
  
She, Ron, and Harry left The Floo Cafe after paying their bill and spent the rest of their time in Hogsmeade buying candy and running around, laughing and joking with eachother, trying to forget that they would soon have to go up against the most powerful being in the universe.  
  
  
Draco sat at his table in The Floo Cafe. He finished up his beer and rose from his chair, heading towards the exit.  
  
He stepped outside and gathered his cape to him. The air seemed colder, now that the war was imminent.  
  
Draco began to walk down the dirt path that led back to Hogwarts. As he strolled along, he thought about his life, and what he had become.  
  
He was a very powerful wizard, he knew it, and what's more, everyone else knew it as well. Draco was feared at Hogwarts by most of the students, save three particular goody goody Gryffindors who never seemed to cease getting in his way of having a little fun.  
  
He thought about his school career, everything that he had done at Hogwarts. He was the second male in the class grade wise, and Harry Potter, who was Head Boy was the only one that topped him.  
  
*That would figure* he thought as he kicked a random stone off the road.  
  
But then, Harry Potter was Mr. Perfect, everyones favorite boy.  
  
Except of course, the Slytherins favorite. No, that honor was given to Draco himself. He was leader of the Slytherins, a prefect for the second year in a row. But Draco didn't doubt the fact that even if he wasn't a prefect, people still would heed his every command, simply because of his last name, and the power that went along with it.  
  
Sometimes he hated it.  
  
Sometimes, he wished he could be a normal teenager, with normal parents, go to a normal school, and have normal friends.  
  
But he wasn't normal, and he knew that he never would be.  
  
His right hand brushed up against his upper left arm again, and he winced at the thought of an ugly black scar being made there. Draco knew that Snape had one; he'd seen it.  
  
And it looked painful.  
  
Not that Draco was scared of pain; far from it. He actually enjoyed pain sometimes. It made him believe that he wasn't weak, that he was on this earth for a purpose.  
  
Unfortunatly, fate already had that purpose layed out for him.  
  
Draco looked into the stary night sky, and let out a sigh, his breath coming out of his mouth as thick wavy fog.  
  
Then, he made a conscious decision, one that he had wanted to make for a long time.  
  
He would die before that mark was branded on his arm. He didn't want to be evil. He didn't want to follow Voldemort. He didn't want to end up like his father, so concerned with money and power that he forgot about his child and wife.  
  
From that moment on, Draco Malfoy decided he was in full control of his life.  
  
And damn anyone who stood in his way. 


	5. The Aurors

The following week, the top Aurors that worked for the Ministry of Magic arrived at Hogwarts. The Seventh years were brought into the Great Hall, where all the teachers were assembled, and listened obediantly while the Aurors explained the following schedual for them.  
  
"On Tuesdays and Thursdays, you will have your broom training. I know that you have taken broom classes here at Hogwarts, but that's just basic material. What we will be teaching you are defensive maneuvers and things of that nature," said Auror Karlile White. Karlile was the top Auror out of the team that had been selected to come to Hogwarts.  
  
"On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays," he continued, "you will be working with Professor Snape and I on counterspells and potions, and also how to avoid being hit by a darkspell. I'm telling you now that the first thing we'll be working on will be the Unforgivable Curses. You have to know how to avoid those before you begin with the curses that will do you less harm."  
  
Hermione glanced over to Ron and Harry, who were looking intently at Karlile.  
  
*They must be living their dream* she thought sarcastically. Underneath it all, she knew that this was the last thing any of them wanted to do their seventh year at Hogwarts. But it wasn't like they had a choice.   
  
"Now, before we begin, I want to go straight down the line and get your names and your rank in class. We'll start over here," he walked to Neville Longbottom, who looked at Karlile with wide eyes.  
  
"You are?" Karlile asked.  
  
"Neville Longbottom sir," Neville answered meekly.  
  
"And your rank?"  
  
"65th out of 152 sir."  
  
Karlile nodded and went down the line. When he got to Hermione, she told him her name and rank. He raised his eyebrows.  
  
"Head Girl?" he questioned.  
  
"Yes sir," she smiled proudly at him. Karlile nodded and looked to Harry, who was seated beside her.  
  
"Ah, Harry Potter. No need to introduce yourself. Everyone at the Ministry knows who you are."  
  
Harry nodded, but looked down as he did so. He hated everyone knowing who he was before he even introduced himself.  
  
"Well, Mr. Potter, what's your rank in this class?" Karlile asked.  
  
"I'm Head Boy sir," Harry answered him, raising his head as he did so. Karlile raised his eyebrow as he had done with Hermione and said, "Interesting. Both very powerful...you two are going to be working together constantly I believe. But we'll discuss that later." He continued on to Ron, who told Karlile his name and rank, which was 4th, and that he was male prefect of Gryffindor House.  
  
When the Auror got to Draco, Karlile gave him a stern look and said, "and you are?"  
  
"Draco Malfoy," he answered, his eyes not leaving Karliles. Karlile narrowed his eyes at the 18 yearold and asked him what his rank was.  
  
"2nd. I'm Prefect of Slytherin House."  
  
"Hmmmm, interesting. Tell me, do you have much contact with your father, Mr. Malfoy?" Karlile asked.  
  
Draco just looked at him.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"He sends me money every two weeks. I go home for Summer and Winter Holiday." Draco looked at pointedly at Karlile as if to say, "is there anything else you want to know?"  
  
Karlile made one last glace at Draco, then continued down the line. When all the names and ranks had been given, he stepped back towards the group of Aurors standing with the teachers and Dumbledore. They conversed for a few brief minutes, then turned to the students.  
  
"The first rule that you all must follow is that when one of us tells you to do something, you do it. No questions. It's an act now, ask questions later type of thing."  
  
The Seventh Years nodded their heads.  
  
"The second rule that you need to follow is that you must always have your capes on when we practice. They'll save you from alot of soreness when we work on blocking the unforgivable curses."  
  
Hermione shuddered at that. She didn't think she wanted Harry shouting "Crucio!" at her, or anybody else for that matter.  
  
"Go back to your rooms and get your wands. You'll be working with Professor Snape and me until dinner tonight."  
  
The students obidentely retrieved their wands and made their way back to the Great Hall.  
  
"Allright, break up into groups of no more that 20, and we'll get started," Karlile said. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all in one group, and they were suprised to see that Draco willingly joined them instead of breaking into one of the two Slytherin groups.  
  
"Hey Malfoy, did you get lost? Slytherins that way," Ron said as he and Harry stood side by side. Hermione let out a sigh and watched what would more than likely become a preemptive wizards duel.  
  
Surprisingly though, Draco Malfoy didn't say anything back to Ron. Instead, he turned his back on them and looked at Karlile. Hermione raised her eyebrows and looked at Ron, who was looking at Harry in awe. His face said, "he didn't say anything. I don't believe it."  
  
"Now, the first thing we're going to start with are the Unforgivable Curses," Karlile said as he walked around the group of 20 students. They all watched him intently, listening to his every word. "You are going to take a partner and spread out about ten feet away from eachother. So, go. Pick a partner." He pointed at Harry and Hermione.  
  
"Except for you two. You guys are going to be partnered together alot for things like this." Hermione and Harry walked over to him.  
  
"Excuse me sir, but why exactly are we going to be put together so often?" Hermione asked Karlile.   
  
"Because you are both Head Boy and Head Girl. You don't get those titles on grades alone. How much power you have inside of you is also taken into consideration. Obviously, you two are the strongest acedemically and magically. If I put you with someone else not on your level of power, you might end up hurting that person, and we can't have that, not at this stage in the fight."  
  
Hermione and Harry nodded and selected a spot further away from all the other couples.  
  
"Alright. Now, I know that in your fourth year when you took Defense Against the Dark Arts, you learned that there were three illegal curses, each so vile, so disgustingly evil, that they were outlawed in the Magical Realm." The seventh years nodded. Hermione looked around; Neville was trembling with fright, not because of what Karlile was saying, but because his partner was definitely stronger than he ever would be.  
  
His partner was Draco Malfoy.  
  
"Now, there are two curses which I can teach you to defend yourselves against...and then there's the killing curse." Hermione sucked in a breath. She remembered the spider that Professor Moody had killed in her fourth year. It was one of the most horrible things she had ever been forced to witness, and while she hadn't understood fully why he had done it, she did now.  
  
It was because there was a 50/50 chance that that's what she had to look forward to.  
  
"Now, I want you and your partner to step back about ten paces from each other, and when I tell you to, you are to only raise your wand arm. You are NOT to say the curse at that point, understood?"  
  
A chorus of "yes sirs" came from the group.  
  
"Alright, step back the ten paces."  
  
Hermione and Harry walked backwards ten steps and stopped and looked at eachother. Both of their capes were hung at their sides, concealing their wand arms.  
  
*This isn't going to be fun* Hermione thought as she waited for Karlile White to give the word to raise their want arms. She continued to look at Harry, who appeared just as nervous as she.  
  
"Now, slowly raise your wands above your head."  
  
The students did as they were told. Hermione glanced behind her to look at Ron, who was paired with Parvati Patil. Ron's stance made it appear that he didn't seem afraid in the least, but poor Parvati was shaking like a leaf, her eyes were darting around as if they were chasing a fly. This was most definitely not her chosen profession. Hermione couldn't see Rons face, but she imagined that his bright eyes were flashing with a dangerous green fire.  
  
"On the count of three both partners are going to say "Imperio" and point their wands at each other. The person who manages not to be cursed either because that person is lucky or extreamly clever will stand there while I go around to each couple."  
  
"Excuse me sir, but what if we both hit eachother with the curse?" Neville Longbottom asked. Karlile looked at him and said, "Then you both either have very good aim, or your incredibly lucky." Neville nodded while Draco continued to look on in silence. Hermione took a deep breath and said a thought for Neville. She had half the mind to switch herself and Neville, but Karlile wouldn't allow it.  
  
"Everyone ready?"  
  
The students nodded their heads.  
  
"One."  
  
Hermione closed her eyes and opened them again, looking at Harry.  
  
"Two."  
  
Harry returned her look and smiled. Hermione smiled back at him and winked her right eye.  
  
"Three!"  
  
In unison, Harry and Hermione brought down their wands and shouted, "IMPERIO!" 


	6. Magical Shock

Hermione opened her eyes and looked around very slowly. She saw Harry rising from the ground; Hermione herself had also gone for the grass when Harry had shouted the unforgivable curse at her. Head Boy and Head Girl glanced at one another and nodded their heads, assuring eachother that they were fine.  
  
Hermione turned around to see what Ron was up to...and noticed Parvati. The poor girl was standing straight up, staring directly at Ron. *I guess he beat her* Hermione thought sadly as she brushed the dirt off of her robes and her cloak. Ron turned around and gave her a small smile and the thumbs up sign.  
  
*Yes, he'll do very fine in the war* Hermione thought as she returned Rons smile. Harry was walking over to her as she turned back around. "Who else got hit?" he asked, seeing how straight backed Parvati Patil was. Both heads of the school looked around. Some students were in the same position that they had been in right after the curse had been cast: rising off the ground and looking warily at one another.  
  
Others were not so fortunate. Hermione and Harry noticed at least five couples who had both gotten hit with the curse at the same time. Only herself and Harry and another couple had been missed completely by the curse.  
  
"Hermione, look..."  
  
Hermione glanced in the direction that Harry was pointing and gasped at what she saw.  
  
Poor Neville Longbottom, who had been paired with Draco Malfoy, was lying sprawled out on the grass, apparentely to terrified to get up. Draco was standing over Neville, just looking at him.  
  
"Malfoy!" Harry yelled as he ran over to the pair. Hermione followed, but at a distance, and she noticed that Ron was also coming up behind her.   
  
When Draco heard Harry yell his name, he slowly glanced up to see the Head Boy running towards him.  
  
He didn't look to happy.  
  
"What do you want, Potter?" Draco asked, watching as Hermione knelt next to Neville, shaking his arm and trying to get him to sit up.  
  
"What did you do to Neville?" Harry asked. Draco shrugged. "I put the Imperious Curse on him, just like Karlile said to do."  
  
"They why is he lying flatbacked on the ground, Malfoy?" Ron snapped. He glanced down and saw that Hermione still had not been able to bring Neville to a sitting position.  
  
"I don't know why he's still lying flatbacked, Weasley. However, I'm sure you have a theory on it, so let's here it. What do you think I did to him?" Ron glared at Draco, anger seeping from every pore of his body.  
  
"You probably didn't put the Imperious Curse on him," Ron said slowly, "you probably put the Cruciatus Curse on him instead. That's why he can't move. He's paralized with pain!"  
  
"Oh, Ron don't be silly!" Hermione chidded her friend. "Malfoy didn't out the Cruciatus Curse on Neville. We would've heard it if he had."  
  
"What's going on here?"  
  
The three Gryffindors and one Slytherin looked up to see Karlile White, Professor Snape and Dumbledore coming towards them. Karliles face was one of worriement, Snapes one arrogance, and Dumbledores one of wonderment.  
  
"Well, I asked you all a question. Come on, speak up? What's happened?"  
  
"Well, sir," Hermione began but Karlile raised a hand to stop her. "Who was this boys partner?" he asked, pointing to Neville. Draco cleared his throat and raised his hand.  
  
"I was," he said, coldly.  
  
"Well, Mr. Malfoy, why don't you explain what happened?" Karlile asked, crossing his arms and looking at Draco expectantly. Draco simply stared at him and smoothly said, "I put the Imperious Curse on him."  
  
But Karlile shook his head.  
  
"That does not happen with an Imperious Curse."  
  
"Well, it does now." Karlile raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, now is not the time to develop a smartalec tone with me. Now, for the last time, what did you do to this student?" Draco Malfoy looked Karlile White straight in the eyes.  
  
"I...put...the...Imperious...Curse...on...him."  
  
Karlile turned to Dumbledore and Snape. "Is this how he is all the time professors?" he asked, a miffed look on his face. Dumbledore however, stopped Karlile from speaking.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy IS one of our strongest students at Hogwarts, and truth be told, Mr. Longbottoms magical abilitys are no where near the level of young Draco." Dumbledore turned to the quiet blonde.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, when you put the Imperious Curse on Neville, what did he do?" Draco just looked at the Headmaster.  
  
"What did he do?" he repeated.  
  
"Yes, in other words, did he immediately fall onto his back, or did he stand there a moment? Did he appear in any pain at all?"  
  
Draco silently shook his head.  
  
"I cast the spell and Longbottom became stiff, then he fell onto his back, just like he is now." Dumbledore nodded and turned to Karlile. "I believe that Mr. Malfoy was just to strong for Neville. It is a simple case of magical shock, that's all." He turned to Professor Snape.  
  
"Would you please go to the hospital wing and bring back Madame Pomfrey. Tell her we have a student suffering from magical shock." Snape nodded and swept out of the Great Hall, his black cloak billowing behind him.  
  
Soon, he was back, and with him, busteling right behind him was Madame Pomfrey.  
  
"Alright, where is he?" she asked as she came to stand beside Dumbledore. He quickly pointed at the still unconcious Neville. She immediately summoned a stretcher and and levitated him on it.  
  
"He'll be alright, won't he Madame Pomfrey?" Hermione asked as she stood up. Madame Pomfrey smiled kindly at her and said, "Don't you worry yourself about it, Hermione. Neville will be eating supper as always with you tonight."  
  
And with that, she led the levitating stretcher out of the Great Hall, half the students watching, the other half staring into space.  
  
"Alright. Everyone that didn't get hit with the spell, come stand by me." Karlile called out. About seven or eight students, including Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Draco came to stand next to the Auror. Karlile took out his wand, raised it and muttered something under his breath.  
  
Instantly, all the students who had been standing stock still became loose and free again. They shook out their arms, then came to stand next to Karlile as he waved them over.  
  
"Now, yes. I know that I didn't give you the counterspell first. I wanted to see how you would cope with not having it at your finger tips, and most of you did alright. It was as I expected. Before I give you the counter curse though, I want to hear from the people who were cursed. What did it feel like? What were you thinking?"  
  
A Ravenclaw timidly raised her hand.  
  
"I felt extreamly light...almost like I didn't have a care in the world. I could hear this little voice inside my head saying, "just do this, and it will all be alright. You can continue to feel like this." It was a wonderful feeling, sir."  
  
Karlile nodded. "That's about the long and the short of it, boys and girls. It's a wonderful feeling to have, but it's also a deadly feeling to have. Those are the symptoms, and rarely can someone fight the curse once it's been administered. Now, the counter curse for Imperious is "Nes-pa Imperio". It's French and translated it bascially means, "No Imperio". Cute huh?"  
  
The seventh years nervously chuckled, all except for Draco, who rolled his eyes.  
  
"Now, I would like for you to get back with your partner, and we're going to try the curse again, but this time, you're going to use the counter curse." He glanced at Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, because of your...experience with this curse so far, you and the pair of Hermione and Harry will take turns practicing with eachother. I trust nothing will happen this time?"  
  
Karlile peirced Draco Malfoy with a shrewd gaze. Draco simply stared at him, then walked over to Harry and Hermione.  
  
"Well, who want's to go first?" 


	7. A Letter Home

For the rest of the practice, Harry, Hermione, and Draco flung the Imperious Curse at each other and blocked with the new protective spell that they had been given. Harry and Hermione each hit eachother once while they were dueling, and Hermione managaed to hit Draco with her spell. He paid her back however; it took Harry five minutes to convince him to take the spell off of her.  
  
Finally dinner was announced and the students headed towards their respective tables. Before the trio parted however, Draco sent a somewhat nasty smile Harry and Hermiones way, and then walked off with Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
"I wonder if he really did put some strange curse on Neville," Harry said aloud as he and Hermione walked to the Gryffindor table. Since the incident with the Magical Shock, no-one had heard or seen Neville.  
  
Hermione shrugged as she sat down. "Draco is strong, but he's not that strong. If he did put some strange hex on Neville, he would've had to say it out loud, and I didn't hear anything weird come out of his mouth," she looked to Harry and to Ron, who had just joined them, "did you?"  
  
Both boys shook their heads.  
  
"He might be hiding his real strength though," said Ron, "how do we know that Malfoy isn't stronger than what he says he is?"  
  
"Well, for one thing, Dumbledore himself said that it was a simple case of Magical Shock," Hermione pointed out.  
  
"Then how do you explain the fact that we haven't seen Neville since Draco put the curse on him?"  
  
"I don't know, Ron," Hermione said. She was starting to get a tad annoyed by Rons interrogation. "Why don't you go over to Dumbledore and ask him?"  
  
That shut Ron up until the food arrived.  
  
"Thank the Great Wizards!" he cried as whole chickens, mashed potatos, biscuits, drinks, and an assortment of other foods popped up before him and other students at the tables of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.  
  
"Hey, Harry?" Hermione said as she helped her self to the stuffing that sat in front of her.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"It was Draco that managed to hit me with the Imperious Curse today, right?"  
  
"Actually, we both did."  
  
"Well, I know that, but what I really want to know is how long did it take for you to get Draco to take the spell off of me?"  
  
"Why do you want to know?" Harry asked, slowly sipping the water that was in his goblet.  
  
"I just remember standing there for the longest time, that's all," she replied.  
  
"Five minutes," Harry said, quickly taking a bite of his chicken. Hermione looked at him, then over to the Slytherin table, where Draco was speaking with Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
"Thank goodness you managed to get him to take it off of me. I shudder to think what he would've made me do."   
  
Ron, who had been listening to the entire conversation as he scarfed down his food now looked up at Hermione. "Look at it this way Herms," he said, swallowing his food, "if he hadn't taken it off of you, we would've put it on him. I don't think he's strong enough to take on both of us."  
  
Hermione laughed at this. "And what would you have made him do?" Ron thought for a moment, then smiled.  
  
"I would've made him act like a ferret, you know, hop around and stuff like that, then I would've made him kneal on the ground and say, "The Gryffindors are more powerful than the Slytherins ever could be."  
  
Hermione and Harry both began to chuckle.  
  
"What then?" Harry asked, losing all interest in his food. Ron stood up and hopped over the bench to the brown stone floor. Hermione and Harry stood up to get a better view of their friend.  
  
"I would have him crawl around on the floor like this, all the while saying, "Please, Mr. Weasley, great and powerful Weasley, don't levitate me out the window!" I would be hillarious. I don't know what else I'd do, but I'd figure something out."  
  
Hermione was about to make a suggestion when she heard the soft bell that meant that Dumbledore was about to speak. She, Harry, and Ron immediately sat down in their seats and turned their attention to the wise and powerful wizard, now standing before them at the head table.  
  
"If I may have everyones attention please," he said softly. When every eye in the room was looking at him, he began to speak again.   
  
"I must congratulate you all on your first day of training. All of you behaved remarkably well. As a result, I will award 20 points to each house."  
  
Cheers came from all the tables and Dumbledore patiently waited for the calm to settle in again. "Now, I have some more serious news for you." The Hall quieted down again and Dumbledore continued.  
  
"The Ministry of Magic has asked me to convey to you that as of midnight tonight, all students in all magical schools are to remain on the campus. This means that all Hogsmeade trips are cancelled, and well as trips to Diagon Alley...and visits home to your families."  
  
His announcement was met with a stoney silence. Ron and Hermione looked at eachother in shock, while Harrys face remained impassive. Dumbledore looked sadly at his students, students that he had come to know and love over the past seven years.  
  
"I know that for most of you, this comes as a shock. Not being able to see or hear from your families for a while is a...hard pill to swallow, I believe that's the appropriate phrase. Therefore, at 8:00 tonight, any student wishing to go home to speak with their parents may do so. There will be carriages waiting outside the grounds to take you to the train station. However, there is a small condition." The students waited patiently for the twist.  
  
"Each student that leaves must have an Auror accompany them."  
  
Murmers and whispers went through the Hall. Hermione looked down at her hands. *So, that's what it's has come to now. We have to have a protector everywhere we go*.  
  
She looked over at Ron again, who seemed to be contemplating what Dumbledore had just said. *He should go visit. He's got more family out of anyone here*.  
  
  
She voiced her opinion to Ron when they were in the safety of the Gryffindor Common Room. His answer suprised her.  
  
"No." he said simply.  
  
"No?"  
  
"I'm not going to risk my family because I want to say goodbye, talk to you later. They know I'll be safe here. And besides, I told Ginny before she left to give them a message for me, telling them I loved them and all that." He looked at Hermione then. "What about you?" Hermione glanced up at him.  
  
"What about me?"  
  
"Well, aren't you going to visit your parents?" Ron looked quizically at her as she sat down on the overstuffed sofa in front of the always roaring fire.  
  
"I don't think so," she said quietly. Ron furrowed his brow. "Hermione, you might not be able to see them for a long time. Take this opportunity to see them." But Hermione still shook her head. "You don't understand Ron. If I went to them and told them everything that was happening here...they might not let me come back."  
  
"But an Auror would be with you Hermione. You would have to come back," Ron reasoned with her, leaning against the mantle. Hermione nodded her head. "I know that, and the Auror would know that...but my parents wouldn't understand it. They draw the line when they know something will put my life in danger. They're my parents, that's what they're supposed to do."  
  
Ron came and sat beside her. He took her hand in his and shook it a little. "You really think that they wouldn't let you come back?" he aksed softly. Hermione nodded her head.  
  
"Then why don't you send them an owl?"  
  
  
Hermione sat on her four poster in her room, trying to think of the best way to start out a letter. Finally, she took a deep breath and let her thoughts guide the quill across the paper.  
  
*Dear Mum and Dad,  
  
Hey, how are you doing? Well, I hope. What I have to say in this letter isn't going to be easy to say, but you have to hear it.  
Voldemorts power is getting stronger by the day here in the magical world and also in your world.   
The Ministry of Magic has decreed that all sixth years and under are to report back to their homes, all the seventh years are to stay and fight.  
Yes, I'm a seventh year. Yes, I have to fight.  
I know that this isn't what you were planning for my senior year at Hogwarts, and it wasn't what I was expecting either, but I have to stay.  
Not just because I was told to, but because I have friends and to a certain extent family here. Voldemort is threatening all of that.  
He also threatening your world. All the murders that you have been hearing about on the television are more than likely his doing.  
Please be careful. Don't think for one minute that just because you're in the Muggle world, you're safe. I assure you, you're in more danger than I am.  
I love you both very much, and if I don't get to see you for a while, please know that I thankyou for every single moment that you've devoted to me.  
I thankyou for letting me come here, for being the wonderful, understand, loving parents that you are. I couldn't ask for more.  
I love you very much.  
  
Love,  
Hermione*  
  
Hermione held up the letter and glanced at it over and over again. Finally, she called on Rons owl, Pigwidgeon. He had told her she could use it to send the letter. Hermione folded the paper and tied it to Pigwidgeons leg, then fed him some of the food that Ron had given her to give to the owl.  
  
"Pig, I need you to take this to Dr. and Dr. Jonathan Granger in London, England. And hurry, it's most important."  
  
Pigwidgeon gave a small hoot, and Hermione opened the window of her room and watched as Pig soared out into the night sky, heading for London. She sighed and stared after him.  
  
*Please understand* she said silently as she closed her window. 


	8. Fireside Chat

Hermione awoke at 3:30 in the morning to a tapping sound on her window. She slowly got out of bed, put on her robe and went to open the glass up to let Pidwidgeon in.  
  
The owl flew in and took residence on her desk chair, softly hooting and looking down at his leg.  
  
*They sent me a letter back* she thought excidedly. She gently removed the letter from Pidwidgeons leg and sat on her bed to read it.  
  
*Dearest Hermione,  
  
Hello, honey. We're fine, thankyou for asking. The letter that you wrote has us both very worried about you, but we know that you have to make these decisions yourself.  
We understand why you wrote us, even if you didn't mention it in the letter. You know that we more than likely wouldn't have been able to let you go back.  
We are proud of you for making this decision, to stand by your friends and the family that you have there. We know that you will be fine, that you'll fight well.  
The only thing that we ask you is that you try and contact us as much as possible by owl. We know there's no other way for you to reach us.  
Stay safe and remember that we love you very much.  
  
Love,  
  
Mum and Dad.*  
  
Hermione held the letter close to her chest and smiled. *They understand, thank Dumbledore* she held the paper out in front of her and read it over and over again. While short and brief, the letter was full of love and hope; it was as if Hermione could feel it emanating off the paper.  
  
As she rose from the bed, Hermione folded the letter and put it in a drawer in her desk, then walked over to Pigwidgeon. "Come along, Pig," she said softly to the owl, who was feeding on the left over food from before. "Let's get you back to Ron."  
  
She quietly opened the door of her room and padded out into the hallway with Pig on her shoulder. As she walked towards the stairs leading to the Common Room, she noticed that there was a lamp on. As she quietly came down the stairs, she saw a mass of unruly black hair popping up from above the couch.  
  
"Harry?" she asked quietly as she came around the sofa. He looked up at her with his peircing emerald eyes.  
  
"Hey Hermione," he greeted her, "what are you doing up?"  
  
"I could ask you the same thing," she replied. She noticed Harry looking at her shoulder and realized that Pig was sitting on it. "I was just returning Pig to Ron."  
  
"Well, leave him here with me, I'll put him back in his cage," Harry said. Hermione nodded and lifted her shoulder a little, a signal that Pig was to go to Harry. When Pig had settled on the top of the sofa, Hermione made her way over to Harry and sat down next to him.  
  
"So, why are you up?" she asked him. They both stared into the fire for a little and when Hermione heard Harry answer, she wasn't sure at first if it was him who was talking, but as she looked around, she saw that no-one was else in the Commons room.  
  
"I'm just thinking," he was saying when Hermione turned her attention to him. "About?" she prodded. Harry looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?" he asked, a little sarcastically.  
  
*Well, with all that's on his shoulders, I suppose he has a right to have a short temper about now* Hermione reasoned with herself.  
  
"We'll be alright, Harry," she began, but Harry cut her off.  
  
"How do you know that?" He asked. He looked at her, and Hermione saw the pain that her friend was in. Of course he would have it worse off than anybody else at Hogwarts; it was his head that Voldemort wanted on a silver plater somewhere, not hers.  
  
She glanced back to Harry, who was still looking at her, his painful green eyes burning into her chocolate brown ones.   
  
"How can you be so sure?" he continued harshly, "I know that when all is said and done, I'll be the deciding factor in the war. Everyone else knows it as well!"  
  
Hermione sat quietly while Harry spoke to her. He was pearched on the edge of the sofa and was making wild gestures with his hands.  
  
"Before you, it's Dumbledore, Harry." Hermione said uneasily. Harry stopped ranting and looked at her, disbelief forming in his eyes.  
  
"Voldemort doesn't want Dumbledore, he wants me. He knows I can defeat him."  
  
"Dumbledore can defeat him too!" Hermione began to raise her voice; she hated it when Harry acted like this, thinking that if he lost the fight to Voldemort everything around him would crumble. "Why do you think that Voldemort won't come near Hogwarts? It because he knows that Dumbledore is too powerful for him," Hermione continued.  
  
"Dumbledore is OLD Hermione! Voldemorts not afraid of him anymore!"  
  
"Keep your voice down!" she whispered harshly, "you know how everyone gets when his name is mentioned."  
  
Harry stood up and walked towards the fireplace.  
  
"You don't understand, Herms."  
  
Hermione flopped against the couch and sighed, rubbing her eyes with her hands.  
  
"Then explain it to me."  
  
The room was quiet for a few minutes; the only sounds were coming from the crackling fire.  
  
"I've wanted to be an Auror since my fourth year," Harry began. Hermione moved her hand away from her eyes and watched her friend. "I've always imagined myself bringing in the most Deatheaters and finally being able to bring down Voldemort. But in my dreams....well, I'm considerably older."   
  
His eyes rose to meet Hermiones.  
  
"I don't think I can do it."  
  
"Hermione furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "You yourself said that if you defeated him before you could do it again."  
  
"That was....that wasn't me talking. I guess you could say that was the uh...machoness in me coming out." Harry cleared his throat, "but that's not the only thing I'm worried about."  
  
"What else is wrong?"  
  
Harry gave her a knowing look. "Can't you guess?"  
  
Hermione thought, her mind swirling with possiblities. Finally, she met Harrys gaze and shook her head sadly.  
  
"Tell me." she prodded him.  
  
"Voldemort knows that if he captured me, and if he wanted to get information out of me, he wouldn't be able to do it. But...if he... somehow...managed to..." he trailed off, looking at her intently.  
  
Hermione realized then what Harry was saying to her.  
  
"If he captured one of us...me or Ron...."  
  
"I don't know if I could hold out agianst him." Harry finished.  
  
Silence again.  
  
"Well, I suppose we'll just have to be really careful in the future won't we?" Hermione said, breaking the tension. Harry just stared at her, astonished.  
  
"I don't think you heard me," he began, but this time, it was Hermione who cut him off.  
  
"I heard you, every word," she said, "and my response is that we'll just have to be careful...you especially."  
  
"Be careful. That's all you have to say is, 'be careful'?" Hermione nodded her head.  
  
"What do you want me to say?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe something like, 'He won't get us Harry' or 'That will never happen'. Something that has a little optomism to it." Harry said.  
  
"These aren't optomistic times, Harry," Hermione said. "But I will say this. If something does happen to either Ron or myself, don't worry about us. We'll both be fine. And I think I speak for Ron when I say 'don't tell Voldemort anything'."  
  
"You don't know what your asking, Hermione," Harry said, looking at her, "I've been through his torture before, remember? I barely survived. If he doesn't get what he wants from you, he'll kill you and move onto Ron, and if he doesn't get what he wants out of Ron, he'll kill him and move onto the next victim."  
  
"And if that happens, I won't blame you," Hermione said gently. She stood up and walked over to him.  
  
"Ron won't blame you either. I know he wouldn't. We would both rather go through Voldemorts torture than to see our battle plans or other secret information in his hands."  
  
Harry glanced down at the red carpet that covered the floor of the Common Room.  
  
"I hope you know what you're saying Hermione," he murmered, "I keep my promises to the best of my ability. If you ask me not to tell him anything, even if he threatens to kill you..."  
  
"I know," she whispered to him, "and I accept that. I wouldn't have told you if I didn't." She walked over to stand directly in front of him, and lifted his face with both her hands so she could look into his emerald eyes.  
  
"Let's not think about that right now though. We haven't even heard from Voldemort yet...we don't know anything about what he's doing, or when he plans to attack, nothing. The war hasn't even started yet. Let's not get upset at things that haven't happened yet, alright?"  
  
Harry looked down at her, and finally, Hermione saw his green eyes soften.  
  
"You're right, Herms. Nothing has even happened yet....I shouldn't be worrying this much, but I am."  
  
"You have reason to be."  
  
Hermione rested her head against Harrys chest. She was severly drained from the events of the day, and she need his support at the moment.  
  
Harry pulled her into a hug and rested his chin on her head. He was glad she was there at the moment. Thoughts of the impending war had been on his mind the entire day, and her being there with him to listen and talk had helped to quell his fears.  
  
For the moment.  
  
Then, he remembered something.  
  
"Hey, Hermione?"  
  
"Mmmm?"  
  
"Are you gonna give Ron his owl back?" 


	9. Prelude to a Battle

Weeks went by training with the Aurors. Every day, instead of going to regular classes to learn about potions and arithmancy, Harry, Hermione, and Ron would practice counter curses with their wands or defensive manuvers on their brooms.  
  
The countercurses and wizard duels, Hermione could handle. The broom riding however was a terrible experience for her everytime. Hermione was deathly afraid of heights, and everytime she tried to fly her broom, she wound up barely getting five feet off the ground.  
  
Finally, Karlile ended the practice and told the students to go into the great hall for their supper.  
  
All except Hermione.  
  
"Hermione, come over here a moment, would you?" he called to her. Hermione turned to Harry and Ron, who were beginning to head into the castle. "You two go ahead, I'll catch up," she told them. Both boys nodded to her and continued on to the castle. Hermione turned and walked over to Karlile, who was waiting for her patiently.  
  
"Hermione, I've noticed that you're having some trouble with your broom," he began. Hermione just nodded. She knew this talk was coming, and she didn't want to go further into detail then need be.  
  
"Could you tell me what the problem is?" he asked kindly. "You've done so well with the counter curses and the wizard duels...it seems kind of out of place that you would be doing so poorly in broom training."  
  
Hermione looked at the ground. How was she going to tell Karlile White, one of the top Aurors in the Ministry, that she was afraid of heights and therefore, could not fly her broom?  
  
"Ummm...", she started out. She glanced up at Karlile, who was still waiting patiently for her answer.  
  
"I'm...I have a problem with heights, sir." she murmered softly. Karlile closed his eyes and sighed. "That isn't good," he muttered under his breath. Hermione glanced back down at the ground and waited while Karlile mulled the situation over.  
  
"Well," he finally said, "I guess you're just going to have to do the best that you can. You'll be learning to apparate soon anyhow, and that will help you out."  
  
Hermione raised her head and looked at him, squinting in the sunlight. "So...I'm alright?" she asked tentativly. Karlile nodded.  
  
"But if you can kick your fear, it would really help," he stated. Hermione nodded, thanked him, and headed towards the castle.  
  
"Good luck on that wish," she said as she headed into the Great Hall.  
  
  
"So, what did Karlile want Herms?" Ron asked as he ate his dinner. Hermione took a sip from her goblet and shrugged. "Well, he's noticed that I've been having trouble with the broom and he asked why."  
  
"Did you tell him?" Harry said, taking a roll from the plate in front of him. Hermione nodded. "Yea, I told him that I was afraid of heights. He told me that that wasn't good, but that we'll be learning to apparate, so I should be alright."  
  
"That isn't good," Ron said, putting down his goblet and sitting up for the first time.  
  
"Why not?" Hermione asked. "We're all going to learn how to apparate, why would a broom be so important?"  
  
"Because some battles are fought in the air, Herms. If you're afraid of heights....well, let's put it this way....you'll be more useful on the ground then in the air."  
  
Hermione glanced down at her plate. Ron was right; if she couldn't kick her fear of heights, she'd better just hang up the broom right there.   
  
"I'm going to try getting rid of it, but...it's going to be a little hard. I don't know if I can do it." Hermione looked at Ron for some reassurance that she could kick her fear, but Ron wasn't looking at her.  
  
"Perfect little Miss. Hermione Granger can't do something? Do tell!"  
  
Hermione and Harry turned to glance at who had spoken. Draco Malfoy was standing right behind her with Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. Draco had his goblet with him, and he was slowly drinking from it.  
  
"Get lost, Malfoy," Ron growled. Hermione continued to look at Draco, who had a small smile on his face. But this smile didn't have the look of being a snear. It almost looked like a teasing smile.  
  
"Draco, what are you doing at the bravery table? Aren't all the cowards supposed to be gathered at that mass of green over there?" she flashed a smile at him. Teasing or not, she wasn't about to take his insults.  
  
"I'm hurt, Granger, you have no idea," Draco said, putting his hand over is heart and making a few exagerated staggers towards Harry.  
  
"You become more annoying everyday, Draco," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "We'd like to be able to finish dinner in peace, so say what you have to say, then leave." He, Ron, and Hermione looked expectanely at Draco.  
  
"You know, I would insult you three more, but I can't think of any words that are simple enough for you to understand, so you'll have to excuse me while I go talk to more intellegant folk."  
  
Crabbe and Goyle let out hoots of laughter, and the three Slytherins swaggled over to their table. Draco obviously told the rest of his friends what had transpired because after a few moments of dull quiet, the Slytherins exploded with laugher.  
  
"It's amazing how so many people can find one crackpot so ammusing," Ron wondered aloud as he finished the last of his potatos. Hermoine and Harry just looked at eachother and shook their heads.  
  
  
It was a Friday, and Fridays meant that the weekened was right around the corner.  
  
To Harry Potter, the weekened meant rest and relaxation.  
  
But to Hermoine, the weekened meant trying to conquer her fear of heights.  
  
She marched out onto the Quidditch field, broom in hand, and stared up at the sky. It was a dreary day, and she could smell the snow in the air. After all, it was November, and Winter was just around the corner. The wind suddenly blew a gust of cold air and her, and Hermione pulled her cloak around her a little more.  
  
"Maybe I should just go right back inside...where it's warm." she said to herself with chattering teeth. *Uh-uh, wrong. You're staying out here until you can be at least 5 feet off the ground and not faint!* a resolving voice said inside her.  
  
Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then strattled the broom stick and closed her eyes.  
  
"Alright, I can do this...I can do this...just kick up and let go..." she kept saying this to herself over and over again...for about 15 minutes.  
  
  
Harry watched Hermione from his window, smiling at her determination. "I'll say one thing for her...what Hermione wants, Hermione gets".  
  
As he watched Hermoine from the window though, he began to feel a stinging sensation on his forehead.  
  
His scar was burning.  
  
"Agghh..." he breathed as the burning became more persistant. He glanced out the window at Hermione again. She was still on the ground, straddeling the broom stick...but something was very different about the atmosphere.  
  
  
"Great Wizards, it's gotten dark in a hurry," Hermione mumbled to herself. She looked up at the sky, where grey and dark clouds were beginning to blow across the horizon. She shielded her eyes from the leaves and twigs that were beginning to blow up from the ground.  
  
*Today isn't such a great day to do this after all* she thought as she got off her broom and began to make her way back to the castle.  
  
And then, she saw them.  
  
They were just tiny specks in the beginning, but as Hermione squinted her eyes to get a better look at them, she could see black caped figures riding brooms.  
  
And they were flying towards Hogwarts.  
  
  
"RON! Ron, get Dumbledore, now!"  
  
Harry came tearing into the Gryffindor Common Room. His schoolmates looked at him as if he'd gone insane, but when they saw him holding his scar, their eyes began to widen in fear.  
  
"What's wrong, Harry, what is it?" Ron asked, standing up.  
  
"Voldemort...he's near by!" 


	10. Dumbledores Instructions

The Students of Hogwarts were in a panic.   
  
Voldemorts' Deatheaters were flying towards Hogwarts.  
  
Hermione ran for the castle doors that would lead her to the common room of her house, but she was stopped in her tracks by a sizziling bolt of blue light. She looked down at the ground and noticed a black hole right in front of her. It was fairly deep.  
  
*Thank the gods I stopped* she thought as she regained the use of her legs and continued to run up the hill to Hogwarts.  
  
  
Inside the school, students were donning their capes and rushing to the Great Hall, where Dumbledore and Harry were awaiting them along with the other teachers. Ron stood at the Gryffindor table watching paniced students fly into the Hall, some carrying their broomsticks, and all of them with their wands.  
  
*Please let this be over soon* Harry thought as he watched Lavender and Parvati enter the Hall together. The two girls were obviously scared; they could barely walk straight.  
  
"Alright, alright, everyone come in and sit down. Try to stay calm," Dumbledore advised as the Aurors began to make their way into the dining room of Hogwarts. Karlile White led the way to the Head Table, and when everyone was finally in the gigantic room, Dumbledore began to speak.  
  
"I want you all to listen closely to what we say for we don't have time to repeat ourselves." The Hall immediately grew silent. Harry looked at Dumbledore in wonder. *How can he be so calm when there are Deatheaters outside waiting to take over Hogwarts?* he wondered. Then, he looked at his table. There was Ron, watching Dumbledore with undivided attention, but someone was missing.  
  
Where was Hermione?  
  
  
"Oh my god!" Hermione screamed as another bolt of light, a red one this time, almost hit her in the chest. She was close to the entrance of the castle, she was only a few feet away.  
  
But it was obvious that the Deatheaters didn't want her to get there.  
  
To bad for them.  
  
Hermione reached the door and grasped it firmly to yank it open.  
  
But that would be to easy.  
  
"Oh for...." she whipped out her wand. "Alohomora!" she cried, and heard the door click, a signal to her that it had been unlocked.  
  
"Thank Dumbledore," she muttered as she heaved the door open. She ran inside and slammed in shut, shouting a locking spell over her shoulder. The Great Hall was just up ahead.  
  
  
Ron and Harry were communicating with their eyes. Harry flicked his eyes towards a seat beside Ron, silently asking him where Hermione was. Ron signaled back to him with a shrug of shoulders and a worried look on his face.  
  
Harry knew that Hermione had been outside when the Deatheaters had been spotted. If she was still out there...  
  
"Dumbledore!"  
  
Hermione raced into the Great Hall, her broom swinging beside her as she ran towards the Head Table.  
  
"Calm yourself Miss. Granger. What news do you have?"  
  
Hermione took several breaths of air before she even attempted to speak.  
  
"Deatheaters...outside the castle.....they're flying on brooms! Professor, there must be at least 50 of them!"  
  
Frightened murmers and gasps went through the chamber, and Dumbledore held up his hand to silence them.   
  
"Quiet!" he commanded. Once again, the Hall became silent. "Now, this is what will happen. Gryffindors, you with Minerva will occupy the Southern Entrance. Hufflepuffs along with Professor Sprout will make their way to the West Wing. Ravenclaws and Madame Hooche will take the East Entrance, and the Slytheins with Professor Snape will cover the North gate."  
  
The students began to rise from their positions, each boy and girl grasping thier wand firmly. But Dumbledore wasn't through.  
  
"Make sure you have your capes on, and remember everything you've learned thus far. This is the first battle with Voldemort, and I can assure you, it won't be the last."  
  
Harry jumped down from the table and hurried over to Hermione, who had calmed down a bit, but was still breathing hard.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked when he reached her, Ron right behind him. Hermione gave them a short nod and held up her wand.  
  
"Come on, they'll leave us," she told them, and she spun on her heel and made her way through the mass of Gryffindors, Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws. As she looked around at the students, she noticed Draco.  
  
His eyes were expressionless, his lips in a thin line...but she looked also happened to look at his hand.  
  
It was gripping the wand tightly.  
  
*Maybe he is on our side after all* she thought as she, Harry, Ron, and the rest of the class headed towards there destinations, and to the first fight of the War Against Voldemort. 


	11. Casualty

Harry rushed out of the South entrance with Hermione and Ron at his heels. He looked above him and nearly jumped six feet in the air. Hermione wasn't kidding. The entire cloudspace seemed to be covered to the brim with Deatheaters riding on broomsticks, sweeping, diving, and shooting hexes from their wands.  
  
"Blimey..." Ron breathed as he stepped back into the shadows of the entrance, pulling Hermione with him. Harry however, began to hold his forehead again, and both of his friends could see that it was some of the worst pain the Boy Who Lived had ever felt.  
  
"Is it Voldemort, Harry?" Hermione asked gently tugging at his elbow to pull him back into the cover of the entrance. Harry nodded, but didn't open his squinching eyes. Ron was about to ask how far away Voldemort was when an explosion of green light hit the ground just feet away from where they were standing.  
  
"That," Ron said as he looked at the senged ground before him, "was a little to close." Hermione only nodded her head.  
  
"Are you three alright?"  
  
Minerva McGonagall came racing towards them, her cloak tight to her body and her wand low to the ground. "Yes Professor McGonagall, we're fine," Hermione squeaked out. She, Harry, and Ron managed to set themselves in a stooped over position while the elderly professor made her way over to them.  
  
"Alright you three, come along," she beckoned when she reached them. "Run down this alley way until you come to a huge block of stone. Tap the fifth stone from the bottom right corner and then go trough the door that opens. The Deatheaters aren't worried about the Southern Entrance, there are only a few of them patrolling this area. Most of them are heading towards the North Gate."  
  
Professor McGonagall stepped back against the wall and looked up at the sky. There were indeed only about two or three Deatheaters still flying around the Southern Entrance.   
  
"When I tell you to move, run down the passage as fast as your legs will carry you."  
  
Harry, Hermione, and Ron nodded to her and pressed themselves against the highwall as another Deatheater flew rather close to where they were hiding.  
  
"Alright, set yourselves....go!" she hissed at the three teens. The trio instantly took off down the alleyway, close together and looking over their shoulders as they ran. Professor McGonagall was switching her sight from them to above her head. Hermione turned around...  
  
And was thrown to the ground by a Deatheater swooping down on her from above. Harry and Ron had just enough time to duck and a good thing too; if they hadn't they would've been watching their bodies search for their heads for an awfully long time.  
  
"What in the Gods..." Hermione muttered as she stood up shakily, pulling her cloak tight to her. Harry and Ron also stood up, drawing their wands out from under their cloaks. All three of the Hogwarts students looked up and spotted the Deatheater that had attacked him and two more of his gang flying straight for them. The Deatheaters had their wands raised and the leader raised his wand in the air, shouting out a curse.  
  
Sizzling yellow light came flying towards Hermione. She shreiked and threw herself against the opposite wall, fumbling for her wand. Harry stepped in front of Hermione while Ron tried to help her up and shield her at the same time. Harry shouted a deflection curse at the spell, his wand shooting out a whispy white, completely blocking the spell that had been sent his, Rons, and Hermiones way.  
  
"Come on, let's get to that block," Harry shouted as he started down the alley again.  
  
"Uh, Harry, I think that's gonna be a bit difficult mate," Ron said, standing beside Hermione. Both of them were looking up at the sky.  
  
The other two Deatheaters were flying at them fullforce, and the leading Deatheater of the bunch was beginning to make another pass.   
  
Hermione watched as the Deatheater on her far left made a dive for her. Now that she was in full control of her faculties, she held her head high and raised her wand in the air.  
  
"Petrificus Totalus!" she screamed at him.   
  
Obviously, the Deatheater didn't expect Hermione to attack first. He let out a shout of surprise...and that was all he was able to do. The invader flew himself right into a wall, and fell unceremoniously to the cold, hard floor.  
  
"Very nice, Hermione," Ron complemented as he concentrated on the attacker that was coming towards him. The evil sorcerer shouted out a curse, but Ron deflected it and shouted back a hex of his own, apparently a broom hex. The Deatheater tried to get his vehicle to turn the other way so that he wouldn't collide into the wall like his comrade, but Ron had done especially well in hexes, and there was no way that the Deatheater was getting away free.  
  
He plowed head first into the wall, and Harry, who was standing almost six feet away from the fight zone, heard the sickening crack of skull against stone.  
  
That was one Deatheater they didn't need to worry about anymore.  
  
Hermione went to stand next to Ron, who was inspecting the fallen attacker.  
  
"Come on, let's go," she urged. But Harry shook his head. "There's one more." Both Ron and Hermione looked around and above them for any signs of the third invader, but saw no trace of him.  
  
Until it was to late.  
  
The trio turned when they heard a blood-curdeling scream come from behind them. Hermione whipped around to see Minerva McGonagall staring in horror as a green stream of light slammed into her chest. The trio covered their eyes as the light exploded on impact.  
  
When Hermione lifted her eyes to where Professor McGonagall was last, she saw nothing but air. However, as Hermione gazed down, she saw her Transfiguration Teacher lying in a crumpled heap on the ground.  
  
"No..." she whispered. She rose her eyes to see the Deatheater that had killed the professor hovering over her limp form, and although she could not see his face, Hermione knew that he must've had a huge grin on his face at the moment.  
  
Harry and Ron braced themselves for another attack, but the Deatheater slowly rose higher in the air, and took of towards the North Gate.  
  
Hermione watched him fly away, at the same time trying to summon the strength to make her way over to her dead teacher.  
  
When Hermione did reach the professor, the first thing that she looked at were the womans eyes. Minerva McGonagalls' eyes still had that same look of terror in them as they had had when the deathly green light was shooting straight for her chest.  
  
Besides that fact, there were no marks on her, no bruises that would indicate that she had died the way she did. Hermione held back her tears as she lifted her hand to her teachers eyes and closed them.  
  
*I'll make sure you're not forgotten Professor McGonagall...Minerva* she promised silently as she let one tear slide down her cheek.  
  
Harry came over to Hermione and crouched down on his knees next to her. The professors wand was still in her hand, and Harry gently pried it out, trying not to disturb the body as much as possible. The three knelt by their fallen teacher a few moments more, then Ron stood up.  
  
"Come on," he said quietly, "they still need us at the North Gate."  
  
Harry nodded and stood up while Hermione wiped the one tear that she had allowed to be shed off of her cheek. She stood straight and held her wand above Professor McGonagall.  
  
"Wingardium Leviosa" she said numbly. Her teachers body lifted effortlessly off the stone floor, and the trio made their way down the corridor to the block that their professor had wanted them to reach so desperately while she was alive. 


	12. A Gryffindor in Need

Okay, quick note here. I really, really, REALLY, love the fact that people leave me reviews, but when you ask questions, go ahead and leave me your e-mail address so I can e-mail the answers to you. Until you do that, I'll just have to do this....  
  
~guess () (and for anyone else who is wanting to know the answer to the question...."when is StarWars coming in?"  
  
~To be honest with you, I'm really not sure when I want the StarWars Universe to come into play. I know how I want it to come in, but I don't know when...and when I find out, I'm still not going to tell you because it will ruin the surprise!  
  
  
And now......onto Chapter 12  
  
  
Harry and Ron emerged from the door that led out of the passage way that the late Professor Minerva McGonagall had told them to take. Harry squinted his eyes as shots of red, purple, orange, and white whizzed past him and struck random parts of the concrete wall.  
  
The Deatheaters were everywhere, from what Harry could see; in the air, on top of the walls, some had even dis-broomed and were now fighting Wizard Duels with the students. And the students weren't holding up so well.  
  
*The only one who is doing a decent job is Draco* Harry recognized as he watched Draco point his wand at a Deatheater who was trying to attack from behind. Draco shouted a freezing spell at him, and instantly the Deatheater was shaking from a chill that only he could feel.  
  
Harry swung around to look at Hermione, who was doing her best to fight and to protect the dead professors body at the same time. Ron was off to his left fighting with a Deatheater who had just dis-broomed. Ron was just about to shout "petrificus totalus" at the invader, when the spell for pain came easily out of the Deatheaters mouth.  
  
"Crucio!" he shouted at Ron, aiming straight for the boys heart.  
  
Ron gasped as a bolt of pain hit him right in the chest, and he fell to the ground, writhing in pain as the Deatheater advanced on him.  
  
"Crucio!" Rons attacker shouted again. Ron screamed as another feeling of searing pain racked his body, the pain so brutal it caused Ron to flip over on his back, so that he was now watching the Deatheater attack him.  
  
"Cruc..."  
  
Harry didn't let the evil sorcerer finish the unforgivable curse. He held up his wand and said an illegal curse of his own.  
  
"Imperious!"  
  
The Deatheater instantly stopped the curse and looked at Harry.  
  
"Get on your broom and fly back to Voldemort. Tell him if he wants a war, he's got one!" Harry growled at the Deatheater. True to the curse that Harry had placed, the attacker found his broomstick, straddled it, and flew away, back to Voldemort.  
  
Harry hurried over to Ron and knelt next to him.  
  
"Ron, you alright?"  
  
"Ouch."  
  
"Yes, I know....but are you alright?"  
  
"Yea, I think so, Harry," Ron answered, struggling to sit up, "but now I know why that curse is outlawed. I've never felt so much pain in my life."  
  
"I know."  
  
Ron looked around. "Harry, where's Hermione?"  
  
Both boys looked around and found Hermione, standing just outside the entrance to the passage they had come from. Standing across from her was a Deatheater...and he didn't look like he was having a great time.  
  
"...filthy, disgusting peice of trash!" Hermione was shouting as Harry and Ron came to stand beside her. She had performed the levitation spell on the crony of Voldemort, and now the helpless invader was flailing his arms in mid-air, while Hermione was using her wand to guide him in all sorts of directions.  
  
Ron couldn't help but snicker as he listened to the Deatheater plead with Hermione to put him down. He was turning an unbecoming shade of green from Hermiones twists and turns.  
  
Unfortunately, the Deatheater wasn't without defenses; he still had his wand on him, and while he had been begging with the 17 year-old girl to put him down, he had been raising his wand behind his back, preparing to strike. He suddenly whipped his wand in the air.  
  
"Sengeious!"  
  
Hermione was hit with a blast of fiery red, and began to scream before she even hit the ground. Her arm was burning as if it was on fire, but no flames were visable. It was as if she was about to burst with lava-like heat inside her.  
  
Hermione continued to scream with pain and anguish as the enternal fire spread rapidly withen her body. She didn't even hear the voice put that put the counter curse on it.  
  
"Freezious Partialous!"  
  
Immediately, the fire stopped raging inside her body, and was replaced with the cool feeling of icewater running through her veins. While she had been "on fire", Hermione had been straight backed and rigid on the ground. Now, she had become limp and weak, breathing hard with the aftereffects of the both curses. Harry and Ron stood over her, trying to watch her and fight at the same time.  
  
Suddenly, a huge blast of whispy white light shot into the air, revealing a skull with a snake slithering through the mouth.  
  
The Dark Mark.  
  
Immediately, the Deatheaters stopped what they were doing and raised their eyes to the sky, acknowledging the sign of Voldemort.  
  
"Back!" one of them yelled. Immediately, the Deatheaters who still had their brooms jumped onto them and flew away. Those that had lost their transportation held up their hands to be picked up by a fellow brother of evil.  
  
One by one, Harry and Ron, along with the other Gryffindors, Slytherins, and Aurors watched as the followers of Voldemort flew away, back to their leader.  
  
Ron let out a shakey sigh of relief and turned with Harry to help Hermione. But they notices that no-one else was moving. They were all looking at something.  
  
At someone.  
  
Professor Severus Snape was bent over Professor McGonagalls body, studying her carefully. Karlile White had also come to stand beside the fallen Head Mistress of Hogwards. One by one, every student that was assembled bowed their heads in respect. Finally, Snape raised his head and looked at the seventh years.  
  
"Come, back to the Great Hall."  
  
The students began to shuffle back in the school. Snape muttered the levitation spell, and Minerva McGonagall was once again lifted into the air.  
  
Harry and Ron helped Hermione up, but when they found that she was still to dazed from the fire spell performed on her, they also levitated her into the air.  
  
"Thankyou, Harry, Ron," she murmered as Harry grasped her hand.  
  
"Well, what do you expect, Herm? You can't walk." Harry joked.  
  
"Not for this. For putting that freezing spell on me." Harry suddenly looked uncomfortable.  
  
"Um, Hermione...I didn't do that."   
  
"Well, then Ron..."  
  
"Yea?"  
  
"You put the freezing spell on me, right?" she said. But Ron also shook his head no. Hermione furrowed her brow.  
  
"Then who..."  
  
"Don't worry about it right now, Herms," Harry advised, "we'll tell you when you're better."  
  
And that was the last thing Hermoine heard before she drifted off to sleep. 


	13. Saved by a Malfoy

The hospital wing of Hogwarts was fuller than usual that night. Students continued to enter with new aches and pains, some left with a cure for their ails, and some were put to bed and watched over.  
  
Hermoine Granger was one of them.  
  
As soon as possible, she was given a bed, and a spell was put on her so that she would fall asleep almost immediately. "She needs to rest so the magical shock that she experienced can where off," Madame Pomfrey explained as Harry and Ron watched Hermione fall into a deep sleep.  
  
It was past dinner time when Hermione finally awoke. Ron and Harry had gone to the Great Hall for supper, but had brought it back with them, and had eaten as they watched Hermione sleep.  
  
She looked up at the ceiling for a moment, trying to get her barings before looking at the two boys seated before her. She blinked once or twice, at the same time, pushing herself up on her pillow so that she could look at them better.  
  
"Is it over?" she asked warily. Ron and Harry glanced at eachother before Ron answered her.  
  
"For the time being," he murmered. Hermione glanced down at her sheets, which were a plain white color, then flicked her eyes to Harry, who was watching her carefully.  
  
"I don't remember alot, Harry." she said tentativly. The sleeping spell was having an affect on her speech and was causing her to speak incredibly slowly . "Would you tell me what happened?" Harry sucked in a breath and shifted his gaze to Ron, who in turn shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "give the lady what she wants."  
  
Typical Ron.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
Harry looked back at Hermione, who was waiting expectantly for the story. He cleared his throat and began"  
  
"Well, you remember that the Deatheaters attacked us?" Hermione nodded her head and closed her eyes, as if she was trying to stamp out the image of the evil sorcerers attacking Hogwarts from the air.  
  
"We all fought with them...some of us harder than others. Professor McGonagall for instance..." he trailed off as he watched Hermione take in the information that she had forgotten. She had opened her eyes and was watching him calmly, intently, willing him to go on with the story.  
  
"We...carried her to the North Gate, where the Slytherins were fighting most of the Deatheaters. You were faring alright by yourself, levitating a Deatheater in the air....but somehow, he managaed to get control of his wand and curse you with a fire spell." Hermione nodded at that.  
  
"I remember that part, you don't have to remind me," she whispered. "I've never felt so hot in my life. It was like my blood had turned to lava."  
  
"I'd never heard anyone scream like that in my life either." Harry murmered. The three were quiet for a moment, taking in the memories of pain and the sounds of agony that had spewed from Hermiones soul. Finally, Hermione shook her head and looked at Ron.  
  
"What happened next?" she asked. Ron sighed and gazed up at the ceiling.   
  
"You...you continued to scream. None of us could think of the counterspell for the one that had been placed on you...but one person did. He pointed his wand at you and said the spell that stopped the burning inside you."  
  
"Who was it?" Hermione asked. "If it wasn't you two, then tell me who it was."  
  
"Hermione..."  
  
"Harry, please. I'm not angry at you two because you didn't say it, if that's what you're thinking. You didn't know the counter-curse. But someone did, and he deserves to be thanked. Now tell me, who helped me?"  
  
The area around Hermiones bed was quiet once again. Harry knew that Ron wasn't going to tell Hermoine who had said the countercurse, simply because he was to angry with himself for not having thought of it. But Hermione was right. The person did deserve a thankyou from her, and if she was willing to give it...  
  
"It was Malfoy."  
  
Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry, clearly not believing what he just said.  
  
"Come again?"  
  
"Draco Malfoy. He saved you from the Deatheater. He knew the counter-curse, and he said it."  
  
"Malfoy?..." she murmered under her breath. *Why would be take the time to save a Mudblood?* she asked herself.  
  
"I don't know exactly why he stuck his neck out for you," Harry continued, clearly reading Hermiones thoughts, "but he did. And while we were fighting, I was watching him. He really took it to those Deatheaters, Hermione."  
  
But Hermione wasn't listening to all that. She was still stuck in limbo with the realization that Draco Malfoy, heir to one of the biggest fortunes in the wizarding world, the one who had spent his entire seven years at Hogwarts making her life miserable, and the one who had told her over and over again that all mudbloods should be made to serve the "true wizards" had saved her life.  
  
It was alot to stomach.  
  
"He probably didn't realize who he was saving," Ron suddenly said. Both Hermione and Harry looked at him, startled that he had actually spoken.  
  
"What?" Hermione said. She was extremely tired at the moment, one reason being the sleeping spell, and the other reason being that she had just found out that her arch-enemy had saved her life.  
  
"I said, 'he probably didn't realize who he was saving'" Ron repeated, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Think about it. After all that he's done to us, done to you, Herm. Do you really think that he saved you because he wanted to? No, he probably didn't realize who it was that was lying on the ground screaming in pain, and the words just came out of his mouth."  
  
"Ron..." Harry began, but Ron cut him off with a sharp gesture of his hand.  
  
"Think about it, Harry. After everything that has happened between us and him, do you really think he knew who he was saving? After all the times he told Hermione that she was a mudblood and that all mudbloods and muggles should die or serve him, do you really, honestly, truly believe that he would've wasted his precious time with her?"  
  
Hermione leaned back into her pillows and sighed. *It could be true* she realized sadly. *Why would Draco knowingly save me? I'm nothing more than a mudblood. Why would he waste his breath and energy?*  
  
But he had wasted his breath and his energy, Hermione realized. Whether he knew it or not, he had saved her.  
  
*He still deserves some gratitude* Hermione thought. *If anything, he still has someone to torture, so it bodes well for him either way.*  
  
While she had been lost in her thoughts though, Harry and Ron had somehow gotten into a heated debate about the subject. While Harry saw at least a sliver of good in everyone except Voldemort, Ron firmly believed that if Draco did anything noble or remotely nice, it was either a mistake on his part, or it was to help him get something he wanted.  
  
"You saw him while he was fighting the Deatheaters, Ron! He was pummeling them one by one! If he was on thier side, why would he end up hurting so many on purpose?"  
  
"Have you ever heard of a convincing play?"  
  
"Oh, both of you stop it," Hermione pleaded, holding her hands to the side of her head. "Whether or not Draco did this for himself or because he felt like being nice, he should still get something for it in return."   
  
Ron gaped at his friend.  
  
"You are ill, that spell did more to you than put you to sleep," he stated.   
  
"No it didn't Ron. I'm simply stating a fact. All I'm going to do is find him tomorrow at dinner and thank him. That's all. Whatever he says to me after that is fine."  
  
Ron sighed, knowing that she had made up her mind.  
  
"But," she said, and Rons head snapped back up, "if he didn't mean to save me, it means that he'll have to deal with the fact that he saved a mudblood for the rest of his life." She grinned, and pretty soon, she, Ron, and Harry were having a good laugh for the first time in a few months.  
  
"Alright, alright, enough visiting. Ms. Granger needs her rest," Madame Pomfrey bustled in with a few more towels hung over her right arm.   
  
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, come along. You may come back tomorrow, she'll be in here at least that long so that she can get her full strength back."  
  
Hermione smiled as Harry and Ron arose from thier seats on either side of her bed.  
  
"We'll visit tomorrow after morning meal Herm," Ron said as they left the area around her bed. Hermione called good-bye to them, then snuggled under her covers for some more added warmth.  
  
"Saved by a Malfoy...you would've thought?" she asked herself as she drifted off to sleep. 


	14. You Owe Me

*How can one persons head hurt so much?*  
  
Hermione rubbed her temples as she walked into the Great Hall the next night for dinner. The Hall was silent, the usual talk didn't fill the room, and neither did the usual cheer. Of course, there really wasn't reason for any. Professor McGonagall was dead, many of the students were injured, some seriously...besides that everyone was just in a really bad mood.  
  
Hermione spotted Harry and Ron sitting sullenly over at the Gryffindor table, plates of food in front of them, but not touched. She walked over to them and plopped down beside Ron.  
  
"Feeling better?" Ron asked her.  
  
"A little," she replied, still massaging the sides of her head. She looked up at Ron and Harry. "Have you seen him yet?" she asked.  
  
"Seen who?"   
  
Hermione looked at Ron, her gaze an annoyed one. "Who know who. Malfoy. Has he come in yet?"  
  
"I haven't seen him all day," Harry answered, frowning at Ron for not giving Hermione a direct answer in the first place.  
  
"Hermione, why are you going to thank him?" Ron asked, and Hermione sighed.  
  
"Ron, honestly, don't you think that he deserves a little credit? Just some, not a whole lot. He didn't have to save me, or anyone else for that matter, but he did. He broke his concentration while he was fighting to save another life, when he could have very well been killed. Don't you think that deserves some gratitude?"  
  
Ron just grumbled towards his plate and looked away from Hermione for the rest of the dinner. Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry, who put simply put both of his hands up in a simple gesture meaning, "I don't have an opinion. Leave me out of it."  
  
  
It wasn't until the end of dinner that Dumbledore stood up and rang the bell that rested on the upper right part of his place mat...the bell that Minerva McGonagall used to ring. All the students looked up slowly and waited for Dumbledore to speak.  
  
"Yesterday, you fought your first battle against Voldemort. You did well. I must say that I am extremely proud of all of you. However," he looked towards McGonagalls seat, which had not been sat in by anyone the past two days, "there is someone we need, and should acknowledge. Deputy Head Mistress Minerva McGonagall." Dumbledore picked up the goblet that sat in front of him, the other teachers, students, and Aurors followed suit.  
  
"Minerva McGonagall was truly a courageous soul. She died so that her students might live to fight the battle that she knew she wouldn't live through. Oh yes, she knew she wouldn't survive the war. Do not mistake me, she didn't commit suicide...she didn't stand in the hallway and let the Deatheater shoot her down. No, she fought till the end of her life. But she knew that she wouldn't live to see the end of the war."  
  
Hermione, Ron, and Harrys eyes connected at those last words. *What's it like to know you won't see the end of a war?* Hermione wondered to herself, and she could see Ron and Harry thinking the same thing. Dumbledore began to speak again, and she turned her attention back to him.  
  
"As a sign of respect to Minerva, I would like it very much if you would all raise your goblets to her honor. She's the first casualty of this war, and hopefully, she'll be the last. She will never be forgotten, either as a brilliant teacher or as the great woman and witch that she was."  
  
Everyone in the Great Hall raised their goblets to the ceiling, each murmering the fallen teachers name, and taking a sip of the drink that filled their cup.  
  
"I do have one more announcment," Dumbledore said as some students were beginning to rise from their seats.  
  
"You will no longer have regular class while you're here. You shall spend most of your time with the Aurors. The only regular class that you might have will be Potions as you need to know the different spells and such."   
  
Dumbledore sat down again, and Hermione noticed that he seemed more tired than he let on. *Well, Herms, he has a right to be. We do have a war going on you know*.  
  
"Hey, Hermione?"  
  
Hermione turned towards Ron, who was looking at her.   
  
"You alright?"  
  
"Yes, Ron, I'm fine. Why?"  
  
"Nothin, I just said your name about two times and you didn't seem to hear me."  
  
"Oh," Hermione brushed her hair back from her eyes, "sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts." She cleared her throat. "What is it?"  
  
"I thought you'd like to know that Malfoy walked in just now."  
  
"Oh," Hermione said, glancing over to the Slytherin table, which was beginning to empty. Draco Malfoy was standing at the side of the table, apparently having a conversation with Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
"Well, I'll see you boys later then," Hermione said as she rose from her seat.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
"Hmmmm?" she turned around to face Ron again, who was also getting up from his seat with Harry.  
  
"He might have saved your life, but that doesn't mean he likes you in anyway. Be careful, right?" Hermione smiled at Ron.  
  
"I don't think he's going to try anything. I'm simply going to go up to him, thank him for what he did, listen to his reply, and then I'll be back in the common room." With a wave over her shoulder, Hermione started towards Malfoy...  
  
...who was no longer at the Slytherin Table.  
  
*That slippery little....* Hermione thought to herself, putting her hands on her hips and looking around the Great Hall. *It would figure that when I actually want to talk to him, he dissapears* she thought as she walked out of the Hall...  
  
...*and it would also figure that I bump into him*  
  
Hermione stepped back to see Draco standing against the wall, his arms crossed, his cloudy grey eyes looking at her with a blonde eyebrow raised.  
  
"Something you wanted?" he asked coldly, yet mockingly, as if he knew why she was there. He wasn't going to make this easy for her, and Hermione knew it.  
  
"Yes actually," Hermione said, rubbing the side of her head again, "I wanted to thank you."  
  
"Thank me?"  
  
"Yes...for saying the counter curse for the spell that was put on me."  
  
"Counter curse?"  
  
Malfoys lips were beginning to turn up just the slightest, and his eyes were beginning to squinch with pleasure. Hermione took a deep breath. *Well, of course he's going to make it hard on you. He saved your life remember? You hate him, he hates you*.  
  
"Yes, the counter curse for the fire spell that the Deatheater put on me. You said the counter curse. You...you saved my life. I'm thanking you for it."  
  
Hermione cleared her throat and continued to look at Draco, who seemed to be pondering her words. When he didn't say anything in response, she ran both her hands through her hair and sighed.  
  
"Do you have anything to say to me? Any 'your welcomes', any insults? Anything? Because if not, I'm going to my room." When he didn't answer, she let her arms fall to her sides, turned on her heel, and began to walk away. However, Draco did have one thing to say.  
  
"You owe me, Granger."  
  
Hermione stopped in her tracks, and turned to look at Malfoy. His eyes had clouded over again, and the small, barely there smile had been again replaced by his usual haughty frown.  
  
*I'm not going to humor him by arguing* she thought, and again, she turned on her heel and marched to the Gryffindor Common Room. 


	15. Pairing Problems

"What took you so long?!?!?!"  
  
This was Hermiones' greeting as she stamped into the Common Room in Gryffindor tower. Ron, who had obviously waited up for her, was standing next to the fire place, his eyes wide as she came in. Hermione noticed Harry sitting quietly on the couch reading a book.  
  
"What do you mean 'what took me so long?' I was only ten minutes," She said, letting her hands fall to her sides in exasperation.  
  
"Yea, ten minutes to long with Malfoy," Ron grumbled, but he looked back up at Hermione and said, "so, what did he say?"  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes. "He answered in a very Draco Malfoy way."  
  
"Which was?"  
  
"That I owe him."  
  
Harry put down his book at this remark and glanced towards his friend, who was still standing across from Ron. "He said what?"  
  
"He said that I owed him for him saving my life." Hermione finally moved to sit next to Harry, who scooted over a little more to give her her personal space.  
  
"That miserable little git," Ron said as Hermione moved to her spot on the couch, "you owe him, eh? I think he's over due for a punch in the eye."  
  
While Ron ranted and raved for a while, Hermione and Harry conversed between themselves, sometimes having to raise thier voices or lean in towards eachother to be heard.  
  
"He knew that I was there to thank him," Hermione told Harry as she saw (or rather heard) Ron stomping all over the room, "he wasn't going to make it easy for me. Even before I talked to him, I knew that he wouldn't."  
  
"Well, of course he wouldn't. It's his life plan to make our lives as miserable as possible." Harry answered, turning his head to see Ron fast walking past him, his fists balled up in rage. "Did you feel threatened by the way he said it?"  
  
"Did I feel threatened?"  
  
"Yea, you know. Did you feel that he would...you know...hurt you in anyway?" Hermione thought about that for a moment, then slowly shook her head.  
  
"No. No, I didn't get that feeling...it was more of a 'you'll be doing my homework for a week' kind of feeling. Well, that's if we had any homework to do." She shook her head again and sighed. "I'll deal with it when the time comes." She glanced wearily over to Ron, who was still huffing and puffing around the room, his face red with anger.  
  
"Ron?"  
  
"...miserable little ameoba..."  
  
"Ron?"  
  
"....of these days, I hope his broom stick breaks under him and...."  
  
"Ron, I..."  
  
"I swear, one of these days, that horrible ferret is going to wake up with a very important body part missing!"  
  
"RONALD WEASLEY!"  
  
Ron spun on his heels and stared at Hermione and Harry, who were in turn looking at him as if he'd gone nuts. "What?" he asked, a mark of indignation in his voice.  
  
"Calm yourself."  
  
Ron took a couple of deep breaths, then came to stand beside Hermione, who was still sitting on the couch. "Honestly Ron, don't get yourself worked up into a fret. He won't do anything big. Like I was telling Harry, it will probably have something to do with school work or something."  
  
"We don't have any school work."  
  
"We have potions," Hermione pointed out. Ron looked at her. "You shouldn't owe him anything."  
  
"I know that. I don't plan to. He saved my life, I gave him my thanks. That's the end of that." Hermione stood up and moved to the stairs that led to her room.  
  
"I'm going to head up to bed. I'll see you in the morning." With that, she soundlessly moved up the stairs and out of sight of the two boys. Ron turned to Harry; his fists had balled up immediately after Hermione had dissapered up the staircase. "One of these days Harry, one of these days, I'm going to give that ferret exactly what he deserves. He might have saved Hermiones life, but I have a feeling in my gut that if he knew it was her he was saving, he wouldn't have even bothered."  
  
"Don't you think you're jumping to conclusions here, Ron?" Harry asked, finally frustrated enough to raise his voice to his best friend. "He put a countercurse on someone. That means he had to look at the person before and during the spell. If he didn't want to save Hermiones life, he only would have glanced at her and then turned right back around to keep fighting."  
  
"You don't think this could all be some plan that he's worked up in his brain?"  
  
"If he planned to save Hermiones life, that would mean that he knew about the attack before hand. Think Ron, is there any possible way that he could've known about the Deatheaters seige before it happened? With as many Aurors as we have here, and with the protective eye the Ministry of Magic is keeping on us, do you honestly think that Draco would've known?"  
  
Harry and Ron stared at eachother for a few moments, each occasionally looking away, or running a hand through his hair. Finally, Harry stood up and stretched, leaving his book on the couch. "I'm going up to my room. I'll talk to you later." Ron nodded, and said goodnight to him, but before Harry reached the staircase, Ron called to him.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Hmmmm?"  
  
"You don't actually think that Draco won't try to make Hermione pay him back, do you?" Harry smiled sadly, and shook his head.  
  
"Not by a long shot."  
  
  
The next morning, Harry struggled to get out of bed. He was entirely too comfortable where he was, but he knew he had to get up. Defensive Flying began in two hours, and that gave Harry more than enough time to take a shower, get dressed, and get some breakfast in him before the day started. *It's at times like this when I hate Voldemort the most* Harry thought as he grabbed a towel from a chair in his room and went to the bathroom, *He wants a war, so we have to get up early. Slimy Git*  
  
Harry felt a little more refreshed after his shower, but he was still dead-pan tired as he pulled on his robes for the day. He then grabbed his broom and left the room, ambeling down the hallway towards Rons room, who was no doubt still sleeping like a baby.  
  
"Ron! Ron, get up, we have class in an hour!" Harry pounded on Rons door. Five minutes later, a tangled mess of red hair and glazed over green eyes greeted him.  
  
"What's the idea, pounding on the door at 8:00 in the morning, Harry?" Ron yawned as he shuffled back into his room and towards his bed.  
  
"The idea is that we have Defensive Flying in an hour, and we still have to get something to eat," Harry said, closing the door behind him. Ron flopped back onto his four-poster bed and closed his eyes, running his hand along his forehead.  
  
"Bugger," he muttered as he finally rolled over and got up.  
  
20 minutes later, Ron and Harry were down in the Great Hall eating thier breakfast and at the same time, waiting for Hermione to show up.  
  
"I wonder where she is, she's usually the first one down here," Ron said as he cut the ham that sat before him.  
  
"Oh, there she is," Harry said, pointing towards the entrance to the Hall. Sure enough, there was Hermione, but she seemed a little odd this morning.  
  
She looked exahusted.  
  
"Morning boys," she said as she dropped to her seat beside Ron. Both Gryffindors looked at her. "Hermione, you feeling alright?" Harry asked. She nodded to him, "I'm fine. It's still the fire spell that was used on me. Just a side affect, it should go away in a few days though. No worries." Both Harry and Ron nodded, and they trio finished thier breakfast just in time. Karlile White approached the head of the Hall.  
  
"Alright, goodmorning everyone. As you all know, today is Defensive Flying. I'm going to pair you with a partner right now, then we're going to head out to your Quidditch field and begin the session. Keep in mind that your partner for this session will be your partner for all sessions, so if you don't like who you're paired with, I'm sorry. You'll just have to look at it as a great way to learn to work together."  
  
With that, Karlile began to hand out pairings. The list was dwindeling down and Hermiones name still had not been called yet.  
  
"Lavender Brown and Pansy Parkinson."  
  
"Oh come on," Lavender muttered as she stole a glance at Pansy, who clearly didn't look too happy either.  
  
"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger."  
  
Harry and Hermione looked at eachother and smiled; however, the smile quickly turned to a frown on Hermiones face. Ron hadn't been called yet for a flying partner...but she also knew someone else who hadn't been called either.  
  
*Oh, please, oh please, by Dumbledores name, please. Let it be that his name was already said and I didn't hear it*  
  
Fat chance.  
  
"And our last pairing will be Ronald Weasley and Draco Malfoy." 


	16. Riding Dangerously

*Oh Great Wizards...*  
  
Hermiones eyes were wide as she turned to look at Ron, who was staring at Karlile in disbelief.  
  
"Please tell me you're joking, sir." Ron said, stealing a glance at Malfoy, who stood off to Karliles right, his arms crossed and frown donning his pale face.  
  
"No joke, Mr. Weasley. Everyone, grab your brooms and start walking." Karlile turned away from Ron and Hermoine and began to head out of the Great Hall.  
  
"This is insane!" Ron practically yelled as he grabbed his broom from the table. Hermione and Harry looked at eachother uncomfortably. Somehow they both knew that the days lesson wasn't going to be all fun and games, not with Ron in the irate state that he was.  
  
  
When the students and the Aurors reached the quidditch field, the seventh years found thier partners, some happily talking with eachother, others keeping a safe distance from one another.  
  
Draco and Ron, if they could, would have been miles away from eachother.  
  
"Now," Karlile began, "I want everyone to mount his or her broom and go no higher than 50 feet in the air. There will Aurors in the air indicating how high you may go. There is to be no, and I mean NO funny business while you are doing this excersize. If you are caught in horseplay, you will be immediately escorted back in the school and taken to Dumbledore. Is that clear?"  
  
All of the students nodded thier heads, but both Hermione and Harry noticed a small smile forming on the lips of Draco Malfoy.  
  
*Why don't I like the looks of that?* Hermione asked herself as she mounted her broom, keeping her eyes on Draco and Ron the entire time.  
  
"Alright Hermione?"  
  
Hermione shook herself out of her thoughts and looked at Harry who'd spoken.  
  
"I'm sorry Harry, what did you say?"  
  
"I said we won't go very high up because of your problem with hights and all."  
  
"Oh, alright."  
  
"Everyone ready?" Karlike asked. A chorus of 'yes sirs' came from the students.   
  
"Kick off!"  
  
Harry shot into the air, his quidditch skills now coming into play. Hermione pursed her lips together, closed her eyes and slowly flew into the air. Hugging her legs as close to the stick as possible, she slowly opened her eyes one at a time, and when she was about 30 feet off the ground, she called for Harry to stop rising.  
  
"This is as far as I go," she shouted up to him. Harry nodded and flew down to join her so that they were parallel with eachother.  
  
For five minutes, Karlile and the other Aurors allowed the students to get the feel of the airspace around them, giving them the chance to try out different manuvers and flying techniques. Hermione turned her broom around and saw that Ron and Draco were not very far away from her and Harry. Ron was doing verticle twists on his broom, seeing how fast he could spin, while Draco was doing a sequence of dives. *Well, at least they haven't flown into eachother yet.* Hermione thought.  
  
"Listen up!"  
  
Hermione swung around to find Karlile also on a broom about 10 feet in front of her.  
  
"We're going to do a series of dives for our excersize today. You will start at the point of air at which I am, dive back to the ground, and stop before you hit it. You will do this five times. Everyone in a line!"  
  
Hermione and Harry flew to levitate a few feet from Karliles position, and the other students followed suit, lining up beside eachother.  
  
"Ready yourselves!"  
  
Hermione grasped her broom tightly. This was her least favorite excersize. Hurteling towards the ground on a broom was not her idea of a great time.  
  
"GO!"  
  
Hermione took a deep breath, then prodded her broom forward and down, keeping her eyes closed as she did so. She finally opened them about 10 feet before the ground would hit her, and she immediately shouted for her broom to stop.  
  
*Broom inertia is the worst kind* Hermione thought as she was flung forwards, her hands sliding against the stick. She winced as she felt some of the wood go into her palm and hissed in pain. She didn't have to look at the splinter to know that she would have to see Madame Pomfrey after the practice.  
  
After four more runs of diving, the students were finally able to begin the lesson.  
  
"The first rule to Defensive Flying is knowing how and when your opponent is going to move. This is what we are going to be working on today. You'll need to spread out quite a bit, I'd say about 40 feet distance from each pair will be sufficiant enough." The Auror waited until the pairs were the required distance apart, then continued with his instructions.  
  
"You're going to be doing defensive manuvers for right now. All you are trying to do is to get past your opponent and make it to at least 10 feet in front of you. No-one is to use thier wands or try to knock anyone off thier broom; it will be considered horseplay if you do. You simply need to keep the person from getting past you by using just your flying techniques."  
  
Hermione looked around her. Most of the students were paying attention to Karlile, but as usual, Draco Malfoy was giving Ron an evil face. *This doesn't look good for Ron* Hermione thought. However, Ron was a quidditch player, one of the best on the Gryffindor team, and he was extremely good at flying manuvers.  
  
The only problem was, so was Malfoy.  
  
"Alright! Everyone face your partner, shake hands...and go for it!"  
  
Hermione swung around on her broom to face Harry, who was smiling lightly at her. "I'll take it easy on you," he told her, crouching down on his broom. Hermione smiled nervously at him. "Thanks...I think."  
  
With that said, the two friends went at it, or at least, Hermione tried to go at it, and Harry easily blocked her way with his broom. Many times, Harry could have flown right past Hermione, but instead of doing that to her, he pointed out the holes that she was leaving wide open for him to fly through, and she immediately corrected her position.  
  
"Fly back a little bit Herms, you'll have more room to manuver."  
  
Hermione edged a little ways away from Harry, and they continued to fly back and forth across the sky, trying to get past one another.   
  
Finally, Hermione saw an opening that Harry had left unattended and zoomed right for it. Harry watched her move by him, a look of surprise on his face. He had been so busy trying to help her that he had completely forgotten about his own defense.  
  
Hermione flew back over to him, grinning from ear to ear.   
  
"I hope you didn't let me do that; it felt really good to finally beat you!" Harry closed his mouth and smiled at her.  
  
"No, Herms, I didn't let you do that. I was as surprised as you are now." He flew a little closer to her, an evil sparkle in his eye.  
  
"But don't think that it will happen again."  
  
Herione laughed. "It will happen again, if you let down your defense and if I see the hole. Come on, let's go again!"  
  
The two flew to face eachother again, but just as they were about to continue with thier sparing, Hermione spotted something out of the corner of her eye.  
  
Ron and Draco were flying incredibly close to eachother.  
  
Dangerously close.  
  
The other students had seemed to notice too, because they had all stopped what they were doing, and event the aurors were watching the two enemies with impressed looks on thier faces.  
  
Draco at the moment was in the process of trying to dive under Ron, but Ron, the advanced quidditch player that he was, saw the move coming, for it was one that Draco would often use in quidditch games, and moved to intercept him. Draco was stopped short and he immediately backed off Ron a little, trying to distinguish some space between himself and Ron.  
  
"Come on, Malfoy," Ron said, aware that everyone was watching now, "try and get past me."  
  
"A pleasure Weasel," Malfoy said, crouching low on his broom again and smiling a gleaming, but none the less, evil smile at his opponent.  
  
Suddenly, Malfoy plowed straight for Ron. Hermoine sucked in a breath as she watched Ron fly backwards on his broom, gently swaying from left to right to keep Malfoys attention on him and not his own movements.  
  
Finally, Malfoy skyrocketed upwards and Ron, not to be outdone followed him.  
  
And then, to Hermiones horror, Draco began to dive down again...and Ron followed him.  
  
Both broom riders were moving so fast that Hermione could barely see them, but there was one thing that she could plainly see.  
  
The green grass below.  
  
And Draco and Ron were going so fast, there would be no way to stop them from hitting it. 


End file.
